Patients at Dorothea Dix will stay put for now.

The state signed a legal agreement Thursday in response to a lawsuit filed by Disability Rights North Carolina, which outlined numerous safety concerns and technical glitches with a new $138 million hospital in Butner.

Patients would have been transferred to the new facility on Wednesday.

The state's willingness to accept the deal is spurred by the results of a visit to the Butner facility last week by regulators from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Though the state has not yet released the full details of what inspectors found, it appears likely that the new facility will be found in violation of federal operating rules.

That would make it illegal for the state to transfer patients there. (N&O 

A legal advocacy group has asked a judge to stop the pending closure of Dorothea Dix.

In a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday, lawyers for Disability Rights North Carolina detail 15 safety issues at Central Regional Hospital, the new Butner facility where the bulk of Dix's patients will soon be transferred.

The nonprofit group has a federal mandate to investigate conditions independently in state hospitals, and it has been monitoring Central Regional for months. Its suit asks that a Wake County Superior Court judge issue a temporary restraining order to stop the transfer of Dix patients.

"The new hospital has significant issues regarding the safety and care of patients," said Vicki Smith, the advocacy group's executive director. "The [state] continues to provide assurances they will fix the problems, but to date, serious problems still exist."

Tom Lawrence, spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said he could not comment on the lawsuit, citing a policy.  

In a separate development, investigators for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showed up at Central Regional to look into multiple complaints. (N&O)

RALEIGH - A large team of federal regulators arrived at Cherry Hospital on Tuesday to perform a top-to-bottom review of the state mental facility's operations and investigate new complaints of patient neglect and abuse at the Goldsboro hospital.

The group is expected to seek information on the beating of a patient by two hospital employees last week, as well as a previously undisclosed incident from December when a patient fell down a laundry chute.

The increased scrutiny could further imperil the hospital's ability to receive federal money, potentially costing North Carolina taxpayers millions in lost revenue.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services threatened this month to withdraw federal insurance reimbursements from the hospital after the April death of a patient who choked on his medication, hit his head and then was left sitting in a chair 22 hours while nearby staff played cards and watched television.

Federal officials have accepted a plan submitted by hospital administrators to address the multiple violations cited in a report last week. The surveyors now at the hospital, state employees working on behalf of the federal agency, are charged with making a recommendation by Sept. 1 as to whether Cherry's certification should be withdrawn. (N&O)

Richard Moore will visit a troubled state mental hospital.

The state treasurer, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, will visit Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro Tuesday morning.

The federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid payments has said it may suspend financial support for the state-run hospital because of problems with staff training and patient treatment.

State inspectors had found several instances in which patients did not receive timely treatment, an escape was mishandled and handcuffs improperly used.

The visit to Cherry Hospital was scheduled before the news about the problems came out, according to Moore's campaign staff.

Moore has said health care will be a focus of his campaign, but he has not said whether that includes mental health treatment.