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Advocates, Union Call For Changes At Md. Hospital

JESSUP, Md. (AP) -- Mental health advocates and union officials are calling for changes at a Maryland state psychiatric hospital after one patient killed another at the facility.

A patient in the maximum security wing of the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup was charged with killing his roommate last week. The slaying comes 13 months after another patient at the hospital was charged in the death of a fellow patient.

The hospital retrained staff and tightened security after the 2010 killing. But mental health advocates say the latest killing proves that more changes are needed. They say the hospital needs to reassess how patients are paired with roommates and what kinds of treatment patients are receiving other than medication. Union officials also say that Perkins remains understaffed.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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