The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is threatening to revoke the operating license for Canyon Hills Treatment Facility, where patients as young as 6 were subject to physical and verbal abuse.
In a report published October 26, The Charlotte Observer cited a letter from the health department accusing the psychiatric center, located in Hoke County, of failing to provide an adequately structured living environment and supervision.
According to records obtained by the Observer, patients and nurses told state investigators that staff physically harmed clients, called them names and mocked them.
The report says clients were punished for circulating a petition asking for more food and records show at least eight clients in the 24-bed facility lost weight after being admitted.
A lawyer for the Canyon Hills facility is disputing the state’s findings, calling them "factually and legally unfounded."