The audit linked to a Michigan psych hospital for children has been pushed back.
---> Find more coverage about the Hawthorn Center here.
Sen. Michael Webber called for a state audit of the Hawthorn Center. It began in April 2024 and was expected to be completed in June of 2025, but Local 4 has learned that the Office of the Auditor General now expects its audit to be complete by August of this year.
“I called for this investigation based on serious concerns over patient care and a disturbing lack of transparency from the department in charge of our state psychiatric hospitals. And the more I looked into it, the worse it got,” Webber said. “Parents and families deserve answers. I’m eager to review the auditor’s findings as soon as they are available so we can better protect patients moving forward. The bottom line is that if the department had been doing its job, this audit wouldn’t have been needed.”
Local 4 first exposed the issues going on at the Hawthorn Center over two years ago. An active shooter drill inside the state-run hospital gained national attention in 2022. Patients and most of the staff were not informed ahead of time. Four law enforcement agencies that responded to panicked 911 calls from inside the hospital weren’t notified of the drill either, and responded as if the threat was real.
In October, the Michigan Court of Claims granted final approval for a class action settlement against MDHHS. The settlement agreement totaled $13 million, with about $9 million to patients and staff who said they were terrorized by the unannounced active shooter drill.
The Hawthorn Center was torn down and a new facility is being built in its place. Patients have been temporarily transferred to another state-run facility, the Walter Reuther Psychiatric Hospital in Westland.
There have been concerns raised about how well that facility is being run and how the children there are being treated. Local 4 investigative anchor Karen Drew has continued to report on problems inside Hawthorn Center, which is now housed at the Walter Reuther facilities.
Audit pushed back
The audit in question covers the Office of Recipient Rights, which covers the Hawthorn and Walter Reuther facilities. Webber said the audit began in April 2024, and it was expected to be finished by early 2025.
WDIV spoke to Sen. Michael Webber in March after he sent a letter to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel describing concerns over if patients are receiving appropriate care.
“I have continued to investigate your department’s management of our state hospital system. The deeper I look, the worse it gets -- patient escapes, an unannounced active shooter drill, violent attacks, settled lawsuits, serious concerns over nutritional support, and recipient rights complaints going unanswered,” Webber wrote.
Now the audit of the Office of Recipient Rights, which oversees the Hawthorn Center, is set for release in August 2025.
Webber said he is pushing legislation with the goal of making sure that all patients understand what their rights are when they go into a facility like Hawthorn. Webber also wants some new voices on the board that look over patients’ complaints.
“Right now, the council is made up of people that are just kind of looking inward, that are trying to protect themselves, trying to protect the system. We need these advocacy groups -- they’re a voice for the voiceless, voice for the vulnerable,” Webber said.
In the letter to Hertel, Webber requests a variety of things, including fixing the issue of unanswered recipient rights complaints. Webber has been told that families have waited months for responses to their concerns, and others say they are just ignored. He’s also asking for access to video footage, there have been complaints that cameras don’t consistently work.
MDHHS responds
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement back in March:
“The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is always happy to work with our legislative partners and welcome the opportunity to respond to their questions.
“The current audit by the external Office of Auditor General focuses on the Office of Recipients Rights, which was created under the Mental Health Code to protect the health and safety and promote the constitutional and statutory rights of individuals receiving behavioral health services in Michigan.
“The health and safety of our staff and patients is our top concern and we look forward to continuing our long history of providing quality behavioral health care at the new Southeast Michigan Psychiatric Hospital in Northville slated to open in fall 2026.
“As part of our dedication to Michigan families in need of care, we have:
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Local 4 has reached out to the office of the Auditor General for more information on the audit’s delay and expects to hear back on Tuesday.
