BALTIMORE (WBFF) — On a gray Friday afternoon in mid-November, just after 2 p.m., the first ambulance rolled onto the 2100 block of Garrison Boulevard. Minutes later, state health officials and the Baltimore City Fire Department followed, forming a small convoy at the base of the mini high-rise.
It was the first visible sign that Maryland officials were taking action within days of Spotlight on Maryland’s investigation revealing more than 115 suspected unlicensed assisted living facilities operating across Baltimore.
The rapid sequence of events – emergency transports from Garrison Boulevard, residents being removed overnight from a Glenwood Avenue property, and the state’s first criminal referral of the year for an unlicensed assisted living facility – shows a system suddenly in motion after years of inaction. But the responses also expose gaps in oversight, conflicting accounts from agencies, silence around what triggered the actions, and continued uncertainty for the vulnerable seniors living inside several of these shadow facilities…