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Three of Oregon’s largest hospital systems are suing the state, claiming they lack adequate mental health care. Hospital systems say they are forced to house patients needing mental health treatment for months.
Providence Health & Services, Legacy Health and Peace Health are in the lawsuit, the Oregon Department of Health, Oregon State Hospital, The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported.
With the ongoing capacity crisis at state mental hospitals and recent court rulings severely limiting who can be admitted, community hospitals have nowhere to send patients in need of mental health care. Hospital officials say they are forced to treat these patients on a long-term basis.
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“The necessary elements of safe and effective care provided in long-term care facilities — security, private rooms, kitchens, exercise, etc. — are also important in hospitals, which are also responsible for meeting the short-term acute care needs of the community. We can’t make it happen,” read the facility’s joint statement. “As a result, patients left in these settings by OHA do not receive the care they need and often return to precarious conditions.”
Amber Shubridge, a spokesperson for the state hospital, has not specifically commented on the lawsuit.
“The Oregon Department of Health and Oregon State Hospitals continue to focus on the care of our hospital patients, helping them on their path to recovery as they explore new avenues,” Shoebridge told the newspaper.
A federal court order issued last month says that can’t be done, but the hospital system hopes that health officials will begin accepting civil-crime patients at Oregon State Hospital again.
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In an attempt to stem the hospital’s capacity crisis, a judge said in August that hospitals would only allow patients accused of a crime but found unable to help defend themselves, or those found guilty except for insanity. decided that it should be accepted.
A “civil criminal” patient is a patient who is deemed a danger to himself or others and has been ordered by a judge to be treated involuntarily at a state hospital.
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These patients are often initially admitted to an acute care hospital for only short-term treatment.
The hospital system says Oregon health officials are violating their civil rights by not providing proper facilities to patients who are civicly committed.