Michigan Psychiatrist Timothy Chapman of Acadia Harbor Oaks Hospital Fined for Wrongful Detention of Patient

December 9, 2025

On January 15, 2025, the Michigan Board of Medicine fined Farmington Hills (Michigan) psychiatrist Timothy Lamar Chapman $500 for violation of the Public Health Code for gross negligence, willful misconduct, and incompetence.

At all relevant times, Chapman was employed at the Harbor Oaks facility in New Baltimore, Michigan.

Background: On August 18, 2020, Patient “C.V.” presented to St. Mary’s Hospital emergency room due to a mental health situation. Following evaluation at St. Mary’s, she was transported to Harbor Oaks, where Chapman assumed care of C.V.

On August 20, 2020, Chapman deemed C.V. as meeting the criteria for involuntary inpatient treatment and on August 22, 2020, he filed a clinical certificate with Macomb County Probate Court for involuntary inpatient treatment for C.V. On this same date, C.V. filed an intent to terminate mental health treatment, which the facility and Chapman did not honor.

Throughout C.V.’s stay at Harbor Oaks, Chapman failed to document daily thorough evaluations of C.V.’s necessity for ongoing treatment at the facility.

On September 1, 2020, a hearing was held in Macomb County Probate Court, where the presiding judge found insufficient evidence to necessitate inpatient treatment for C.V. and required the facility to release C.V.

As a part of the Department’s investigation into Chapman’s conduct, an expert reviewed the matter and found that Chapman violated general duty and departed from minimal practice standards. The expert opinion included the following:

        a. The documentation does not support that the patient's behavior necessitated a hospital admission of this length of time. An admission of this length of time (13 days) does not appear to be supported by the facts and documentation of the case.

        b. There is an inadequate level of documentation of a thorough enough daily examination by Chapman to warrant ongoing inpatient admission for the length of time they were in the hospital, thus indicating a failure to exercise due care.

        c. Chapman’s direction to continue hospitalization when it was not clearly warranted was a departure, or failure to conform to minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing practice for the profession.

Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) emphasizes that Harbor Oaks is owned by Acadia Healthcare Corporation. In September 2024, The New York Times published a two-part exposé on how Acadia admitted patients to its facilities and held them against their will, even when it was not medically necessary. The facilities often held these patients until their insurance ran out, maximizing payouts for the hospital.

Source: Consent Order in the matter of Timothy Lamar Chapman, M.D., license no. 43-01-076878, File No. 43-22-000464, Michigan Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Bureau of Professional Licensing Board of Medicine Disciplinary Subcommittee, January 15, 2025.