Reported Complaints and Lawsuit

In January 2023, Live 5 News reported that parents and court filings alleged serious safety failures at Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health. The report cited police-call records that included assault calls, runaway calls, suicide-attempt or threat calls, and sexual-assault calls over a roughly three-and-a-half-year period (Live 5 News).

In November 2023, the station reported on additional complaints alleging abuse, poor conditions, low staffing, violence, and sanitation problems at the facility. The reporting was based on documents obtained by the station and interviews with family members of former patients (Live 5 News).