THE LACK OF CAPACITY IN MENTAL HEALTH PUTS US AND OUR FAMILIES AT RISK:
Our client S.T. was 25 years of age.
She had very serious mental health challenges including active psychosis.
She was a danger to herself.
Her mother was committed to helping but she was not able to really help.
Our mental health team discussed the case and determined that S.T. required urgent hospitalization.
Mother did not agree.
We resorted to a wellness check by the police.
When the police got to the home, they decided that S.T. required hospitalization.
They took her to a hospital with a psychiatric unit.
The nurses in the ER recognized that she was very sick and needed admission.
The two psychiatrists whom were consulted also agreed that she needed admission.
But, at 10;30PM after a day in the ER, she was released home.
We were stunned, then irate, then curious.
So I called the psychiatrists to ask about this.
They both admitted that S.T. needed urgent hospitalization.
The problem was that the hospital was 8 beds short on the psych unit.
There were already 8 patients in the hallway in the ER waiting for a psych bed.
So S.T. who was and is very sick was released to go home because of the lack of capacity in mental health.
We are all up the creek or worse at this time because of this lack of planning.
Urgent options are needed. Knock. Knock. Anyone home.