Acadia Healthcare: Whistleblower Exposes Dangerous Conditions at Options Behavioral Health

December 27, 2024

Misty Coburn wasn't surprised to learn about allegations of sex abuse at Options Behavioral Health Hospital.

As a nurse, she saw the warning signs everywhere. Staff, who were outnumbered and undertrained, didn't watch patients closely. That amplified danger in the Lawrence mental health facility's mixed gender units, where men and women roomed next to each other. They were forced to keep their doors open - and there was always a fear someone might slip through.

That's why Coburn sounded the alarm in 2022 about a male patient's violent history. During admission he told staff, according to a police report, about spending years in prison for raping an elderly woman in a coma. She died soon after the attack.

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