Former Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute staff question patient release decisions

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Whistleblowers and former employees at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) are speaking out against the director of psychology over an alleged pattern of overruling clinical staff to grant unescorted privileges to high-risk patients. It comes after a patient fled the country from the facility.

What we know:

The concerns also come after a recent interview with Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano, who said that prosecutors heavily rely on recommendations from NVMHI doctors when making decisions for the court. 

Former NVMHI staff members spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of professional retribution. According to them, Dr. Azure Baron, the institute's Director of Psychology, routinely advocated "blindly" for patient access and privileges over the warnings of the treating clinical teams. 

"The clinical teams routinely faced criticism or the requirement to justify their position, and it would oftentimes be overruled," one former employee said. 

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Whistleblowers detailed multiple instances where safety recommendations were dismissed. In some cases, clinical teams expressed serious community safety concerns and recommended ankle monitoring for specific patients, but they said Dr. Baron frequently rejected the requests. 

Staff members also reported that Dr. Baron advocated for patient access to pornography despite objections from clinical teams. In one instance, after staff confiscated pornographic magazines that were smuggled in by a patients' family member, Dr. Baron ordered them returned under the justification of "patient rights."

Former staff members also expressed unease about community access, noting that "staff would have a really hard time feeling very unsettled with the idea that certain people were in the community seemingly because they could check boxes in the hospital."

Reports altered 

Whistleblowers claim that Dr. Baron directed substantial edits to be made to clinical assessment reports, sometimes without knowledge or consent from the original authors. 

"Let's just say you wrote it, but you're out of office, and I'm covering for you," explained a former staff member. "Maybe Azure came to me and said, 'Fix what Katie wrote, do it by 5 p.m. today, and sign their name when you're done.' I think it's impossible to know how many times this has happened because the authoring clinician may not even know."

These evaluation reports are submitted to the internal hospital review board, the state review board and criminal courts. Former employees are urging Commonwealth's Attorney's across Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William and Fairfax counties to review any recommendations with Dr. Baron's signature with extreme caution. 

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Critics also pointed to past misjudgments, including the case of Kashif Bashir, who was found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) after shooting a police officer in 2013. Bashir was granted privileges approved by Dr. Baron. In 2019, while using those privileges, Bashir set fire to his NGRI coordinator's house. 

"These are talented people who care very much about the patients and the work that we're doing," a former employee emphasized. "However, I think that anytime this hospital in particular produces a report [or] produces a recommendation, that it should be reviewed with extreme caution."

Department of Behavioral Health responds 

What they're saying:

Dr. Baron and the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) did not respond to FOX 5's request for an interview. However, DBHDS shared a statement clarifying legal protocols and Dr. Baron's role in the system. 

The department emphasized that Dr. Baron does not have unilateral authority to grant community privileges or conditional releases. According to DBHDS, Dr. Baron serves dual roles as Director of Psychology for NVMHI and NGRI Forensic Coordinator. He also serves as Chair of the Forensic Review Panel. 

The department noted that decisions about privileges are made by a majority vote of the full Forensic Review Panel, where each member and the chair holds an equal vote. 

Unescorted community privileges are part of a structured process under Virginia law and are not the same as a full release from DBHDS custody, the department said. Permanent conditional releases can only be granted by a criminal court judge.

DBHDS stated that its facilities follow strict legal and human rights guidelines to balance patient recovery and public safety. 

"DBHDS takes seriously its responsibilities to provide appropriate treatment while protecting the safety of our patients, staff, and the public," the department said in its statement. "Those responsibilities are carried out every day by dedicated clinical, forensic, and direct-care professionals at NVMHI and at other state hospitals across Virginia."