Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital announced the creation of its Behavioral Health Clinical Services Center (CSC) on March 28, 2023, just one day after Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale committed her attack that claimed the lives of six, including three children.
The Tennessee Star confirmed it obtained a portion of police documents from the Covenant case earlier this month, including documents that show Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at VUMC who began receiving treatment in 2001 when she was just six years old.
According to a VUMC press release from one day after Hale’s attack, the Behavioral Health CSC creates space for “behavioral health providers who are delivering assessment, diagnosis and intervention to patients receiving services throughout Vanderbilt University Medical Center.”
The press release explained the Behavioral Health CSC will “provide a professional home for licensed and license-eligible, non-physician behavioral health providers who are delivering assessment, diagnosis and intervention to patients receiving services throughout VUMC.”
Hale was the subject of one such intervention in 2019 when the killer’s first psychologist reportedly referred her for commitment at VUMC due to remarks made in a therapy session.
Instead of commitment, VUMC apparently opted for an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), according to a medical folder photographed by the Metro Nashville Police Department at the Hale family home.
Notes taken by an MNPD investigator, who reviewed at least 75 pages documenting Hale’s treatment at VUMC after a June 1, 2023 search warrant, confirm Hale related to mental health professionals both suicidal and homicidal ideation.
Specifically, the MNPD notes allege Hale told mental health professionals she fantasized about both killing her father and committing a school shooting.
A source familiar with the Covenant investigation additionally told The Star that MNPD Chief John Drake privately acknowledged Hale’s doctors failed their duty to warn Hale’s victims prior to her attack, which would potentially make them liable to lawsuits over Hale’s attack.
The Star also obtained photographs, taken by police from inside Hale’s bedroom, which show four labeled medication bottles that reveal Hale was prescribed three anti-anxiety medications and the generic version of the antidepressant Lexapro.
The Behavioral Health CSC at VUMC was developed, in part, by outgoing Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital President Dr. Mary Pawlikowski.
While VUMC stated in March that Pawlikowski planned to retire in September, the hospital declared on Monday, amid reporting from The Star, that she now plans to retire on July 15.
Pawlikowski joined VUMC in 2015 and appears to have worked in her current position since 2021.
Both Star News Digital Media, Inc., which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy are plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuits that seek the full release of Hale’s writings, including those sometimes called a manifesto, from the MNPD and the FBI.
The Star recently published an FBI memo sent to MNPD, which “strongly” advises against the release of “legacy tokens” from killers like Hale. An FBI definition suggests the agency considers both the documents obtained by The Star and those sought in the lawsuit to be unfit for public release.
While the FBI declined to confirm it sent the memo in a statement to The Star, it acknowledged it sends such “products” to local law enforcement.
Since it obtained Hale’s writings and a portion of police documents, The Star has published more than 50 articles that reveal the killer’s own words and provide new insight into the Covenant investigation.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Looks like everything about the Covenant shooter/murderer leads back to Vanderbilt?