The state's largest mental hospital is under scrutiny this week by inspectors from the Department of Justice. Starting Monday, a team of federal experts will begin inspecting Central State Hospital in Milledgeville to see how much progress the state has made at fixing problems there.
In November, safety questions forced the hospital to quit accepting new patients. Those concerns arose as part of the DOJ's five year mandate that Georgia improve patient care.
Tom Wilson of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities says having fewer patients has helped.
"That means the staff; because they're serving fewer people are able to do more training. They've been able to work on some of the environmental issues there at the hospital. They're also able to spend more time with individual people in the hospital that we're serving."
Wilson says the Department of Justice told the state it must show significant progress by the end of the month or face further legal action.

Tags: Central State Hospital, Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Department of Justice, Georgia mental health care