A resent[sic] Grand Jury
investigation determined San Luis Obispo County has failed to create and
maintain a safe, orderly, effective and efficient means for ensuring that
people suffering from mental health issues receive the care they need,
according to a July 26 report.
In SLO County, people on
mental health holds are kept in local hospitals rather than mental health
facilities, resulting in inadequate care for the mentally ill as the hospitals
are not staffed with mental health professional. In addition, requiring
hospital staff to oversee mentally ill patients reduces the quality of
emergency care.
The Grand Jury also
discovered that the county does not provide mental health services to juveniles
or adults who do not fit the criteria for treatment at the County Psychiatric
Health Facility. Most mentally ill patients are transported to out of county facilities.
About four years ago, the
county contracted with a private company, Sierra Mental Wellness Group (SMWG),
to operate a four-bed Crisis Support Unit, located near the Psychiatric Health
Facility in San Luis Obispo. The facility is supposed to offer mental health
care to those not under a mental health hold.
The contract initially
required SMWG to provide a full-time registered nurse. SMWG, however, failed to
meet the requirement.
The county amended the
contract in 2021 to only require either a registered nurse, a psychiatric
technician or other psychiatric service provider at the facility when clients
are present.
Staff at the county
Psychiatric Health Facility regularly ask staffers at the Crisis Support Unit
to admit patients from their facility. On multiple occasion, SMWG staffers
claimed they were at their four-patient capacity, even though they had no
clients, according to surveillance cameras located in the facility.
“Unaware that any clients
were in the Crisis Support Unit at that time, Psychiatric Health Facility staff
checked the cameras and saw that the Crisis Support Unit was empty except for
SMWG staff members,” according to the Grand Jury report. “When questioned about
the situation, Crisis Support Unit staff responded by taping sheets of paper
over the cameras, rendering them useless.”
The Grand Jury is asking
the county to relieve the hospitals of the responsibility to warehouse mentally
ill individuals by integrating and improving county services.
“SLO County should commit
to creating a single, integrated and unified mental health services center that
houses the Psychiatric Health Facility, the Crisis Support Unit, the Mental
Health Evaluation Team, outpatient coordination, juvenile mental health
services, and that includes a medical health triage and screening facility
where all held persons, regardless of age, categorization or insurance status,
can be medically cleared prior to placement in an appropriate section of the
mental health facility.
Abiding by the
recommendations will likely be difficult for the county, as it is currently
working to further outsource and divide county mental health services. In June,
SLO County administrators announced plans to outsource inpatient mental health
services at the Psychiatric Health Facility to a private entity.
During the past decade,
administrators at the Psychiatric Health Facility have been under fire for
alleged mistreatment of the mentally ill. The allegation has led to a federal
investigation and continuous turnover of staff.
The doctor in charge of
the unit, the Behavioral Health Department’s Medical Director Daisey Ilano, is
under investigation for her actions in the treatment and death of Andrew
Holland.
Holland, a 36-year-old a
mentally ill man, died in Jan. 2017 after jail guards left him strapped in a
restraint chair, also known as the “Devil’s Chair,” for more than 46 hours.
The county mental health
facility had refused to admit Holland. Ilano claimed at the time that the
county facility was full and could not admit any inmates, while allegedly
storing boxes in some patient rooms.
San Luis Obispo County
officials are required by law to respond to the Grand Jury recommendations.
CalCoastNews.com
Karen Velie
August 3, 2022
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