Noe Sanchez Amaya, 27, an uncle of Giovanny Martinez, holds a flier Fairfax County police circulated as they tried to identify Martinez after he was fatally shot. (Matt McClain/courtesy of The Washington Post)
(9-12-16) Distraught, a Fairfax County resident threatening suicide seeks help. Nearly four hours later – after being told no bed has yet been found – the resident is asked if he/she still feels suicidal. When the resident replies “no,” the resident is told that he/she could elect to go home or continue to wait until a bed can be found.
The resident leaves.
The family is frustrated. It wanted the resident to get help, not be sent home untreated. The resident (whose privacy I am respecting) had finally hit rock bottom and reached a point where he/she appeared willing to seek and accept help.
But that opportunity was lost.
After the tragic death of Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds’ son, Gus, who was sent home untreated because no local bed was available, the state created a bed registry that could be used to locate where beds were available. Since its creation, I have been assured that Virginia has sufficient beds. In fact, I was recently told that there are nights when there are empty beds.
But as this Fairfax example shows, people in need of treatment are still not being readily admitted. Based on emails and telephone calls that I have received, this seems especially true if an individual arrives at a mental health facility or hospital voluntarily seeking help and not because of a detention order issued by a magistrate that requires the local community service board to find a hospital bed.
Having patients wait for hours is one way to discourage them from being hospitalized. It also is a way to avoid admitting someone by declaring that a patient sitting in a waiting room no longer poses a risk and, therefore, doesn’t need to be admitted.
Because there is no data readily available that would show how many residents simply give up and leave after waiting for hours, it is impossible to identify who these patients are. But I suspect that many of them are much like the resident whose case I have cited above and verified. They are poor and seriously mentally ill, which makes treating them difficult. Some are intoxicated or high, compounding the problem. They are potentially troublesome patients who, more than likely, will end up costing a hospital money and/or depleting scarce county and state services. Many of them are “high utilizers,” which means they are in-and-out of emergency rooms and crisis centers several times a year.
