(7-23-21) Thank you Washington Post for posting my opinion piece yesterday that explains how patient dumping is playing a role in overcrowding Virginia’s state mental hospitals.
OPINION: Virginia’s mental health hospitals are burdened by patient dumping: Admissions at state hospitals have ballooned and are now overloading the system.
Most Virginians experiencing a mental health crisis are taken to hospitals under a temporary detention order (TDO), which permits the hospital to hold them for up to 72 hours for their own protection if they meet certain criteria, such as being dangerous or exhibiting self-harm. In 2017, there were 25,852 Virginians hospitalized under TDOs. Most were treated at private hospitals and released within days. Only the most ill were sent to state mental hospitals for extended care. The number of TDOs dropped last year to 24,125 patients. Yet admissions at state hospitals have ballooned and are now overloading the system.
The reason: Private hospitals are using a 2014 law to rid themselves of troublesome patients, including those with dementia or patients with intellectual disabilities, many with no mental illnesses. Under the “bed of last resort” law, state mental hospitals must accept any psychiatric patient that a private hospital turns away. The law was enacted after state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) rushed his 24-year-old son, Gus, to a crisis center only to be told workers couldn’t find a local available psychiatric bed within the 72-hour TDO period. Sent home, Gus slashed his father’s face with a knife before ending his own life.
