COVID-19 has killed four patients at St. Elizabeths Hospital and sickened scores of patients and staff. During the COVID-19 crisis, St. Elizabeths Hospital has continued to admit new patients, refused to evaluate patients for community release, failed to reduce density so patients can engage in social distancing, and created conditions where the spread of the COVID-19 virus is unacceptably high.

The failure to be prepared for and respond to COVID-19 comes in the wake of a 28-day water crisis in October. The District has shown that it is simply not prepared to address emergencies at the Hospital.

We sued St. Elizabeths in the fall for the water crisis and have amended our case to address the response to COVID-19. We are working with the ACLU of DC and Arnold & Porter to ensure that patients who can be served in the community are safely released and those that stay in the institution are protected from the virus and continue to get needed psychiatric care.

“Saint Elizabeths is supposed to provide intensive mental health treatment in a humane facility, but nothing could be further from the case at this moment…A majority of the patients at Saint Elizabeths are Black, many are in poverty, and all of them have disabilities.  They depend on the District for their care, and lack of regard for their lives and safety is breathtaking.” – Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director

The District has continuously failed to protect the people at St. Elizabeths and patients are fearing for their lives as the Hospital and the City fail to respond.