Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center
| Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Jessup, Maryland, United States |
| Coordinates | 39°8′23″N 76°47′44″W / 39.13972°N 76.79556°W |
| Organization | |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Beds | 350 |
| Speciality | forensic psychiatry |
| History | |
| Construction started | 1959 |
| Links | |
| Website | dhmh |
| Lists | Hospitals in Maryland |
The Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center (CTPHC) is a 250-bed secure psychiatric hospital in Jessup, Maryland.[1] It is the forensic hospital providing psychiatric behavioural health care, with areas offering maximum and medium-security.
History
The hospital was created by an act of the Maryland General Assembly on May 5, 1959, and construction commenced soon after.[1] The facility is named for Dr. Clifton T. Perkins, a psychiatrist and former head of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.[1]
Function
Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center is classified as a "Mental Hygiene Administration facility within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene."[2] The facility is also known as "Maryland’s maximum security forensic psychiatric hospital."[2] Nearly all of its patients are involved in the legal system in some manner. CTPHC receives, evaluates, and treats several different groups of patients, including individuals who require psychiatric evaluation because they have been accused of a felony and have raised the Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) defense and/or their Competency to Stand Trial is in question.[2] CTPHC also provides treatment to accused offenders who have been adjudicated NCR and/or Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST) and accepts inmates from fellow correctional and psychiatric facilities who meet the criteria for involuntary commitment (IVA), or whose behavior is violent or aggressive.[2] It is the forensic hospital providing psychiatric behavioural health care, with areas offering maximum and medium-security.[3]
The high security hospital had been the subject of coverage by the Washington Post during 2024. Longer term issues now included, abuse, a riot, a murder and a rape. Maryland's Secretary of Health, Laura Herrera Scott, told an investigating committee that she had been misled.[3]
Location
As of the 2010 census, the center of population for the State of Maryland falls in the hospital's northern parking lot.[4][5]
Notable patients
- Reginald Oates (born 1950), American spree killer
- [Catherine Hoggle] (born 1986), American who murdered her own children.[6]
In popular culture
- Clifton T. Perkins is mentioned in The Wire as the likely destination of the business card killer.[7]
References
- ^ a b c "About Maximum Security Hospital". Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Program Description". Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ a b Brown, Danielle J. (December 12, 2024). "Herrera Scott grilled for Perkins Hospital 'cover-up'; says she was 'misled' on abuse complaints". Maryland Matters. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
- ^ "Center of Population – 2010 Census". Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ "State Centers of Population 1880–2010: Maryland". Retrieved August 17, 2013.
- ^ Spencer, Darcy; Reporter, News4; Gibson • •, Teneille (September 30, 2025). "Maryland mom accused of kids' 2014 deaths will return to psychiatric facility". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "A padded room at Clifton T. Perkins is definitely called for." –Bunk Moreland, season 5, episode 10