Commission: Psychiatric patients are being mistreated in emergency rooms

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005 | 9:54 a.m.

A group created by the Legislature in part to advocate for the rights of the mentally ill has sent a letter to area hospitals saying that the rights of psychiatric patients are being violated in emergency rooms.

The Commission on Mental Health and Developmental Service's letter, sent this week to administrators at the valley's 11 hospitals, says it has received reports of such cases as the mentally ill being kept in a linen room, in a hallway, and in a room with no windows and a guard at the door -- without naming names of specific hospitals.

"In order to accommodate medical patients, emergency rooms are putting mentally ill patients aside," said commission member Liz Richitt, a psychologist.

The letter goes on to list the rights the group says are "currently being denied" to psychiatric patients, including:

Treatment without discrimination.

Confidentiality/privacy.

Safe environment.

Access to telephones.

Adequate hygiene.

The commission's concerns comes to light as emergency rooms valleywide were filled with 103 mentally ill patients Wednesday afternoon -- or about 29 percent of all beds, according to Rory Chetelat, emergency medical services coordinator for the Clark County Health District.

There were 105 psychiatric patients in hospitals when Clark County Manager Thom Reilly declared a mental health emergency in July 2004. The declaration has not been lifted.

By law, mentally ill patients must first be medically examined to ensure they have no physical conditions. But the lack of space in state-run and private psychiatric facilities means they often wind up waiting in emergency rooms without receiving any psychiatric treatment for days at a time.

Eric Albers, chairman of the commission, said the "purpose in writing the letter is to give them (the hospitals) an opportunity to review their current situation and, if they know these conditions exist, make an effort to improve them."

"Mental health patients should not be treated any different from other patients," he added.

But hospital administrators said the letter didn't refer to their emergency rooms and that specific requests for information made in the letter were still being evaluated.

"There is a mental health crisis here in the state of Nevada. Until there are more mental health services available, the emergency rooms in Nevada will always have mental health patients waiting for bed placement," said Karla Perez, chief executive of Spring Valley Hospital and chairwoman of the Facilities Advisory Board, a group whose members are from hospitals and the Clark County Health District.

Perez also said the issue would be taken up at the next meeting of the advisory board, which is currently in hiatus until sometime next year.

At the same time, Perez said, "The conditions outlined by the commission do not currently exist here at Spring Valley Hospital."

Similarly, Sam Kaufman, chief executive of Desert Springs Hospital, said, "When I read this (letter), it sounds like there might be some facilities in town that have some issues. But we don't."

Cheryl Persinger, spokeswoman for University Medical Center, said, "We feel and believe we treat all of our patients without discrimination and with confidentiality."

In its letter the commission asked to begin receiving monthly reports from each hospital on patients who are ordered secluded or restrained and monthly reports of the numbers of psychiatric patients, as well as the length of stay and outcome of treatment for those patients.

But several administrators said they would be studying the request or not complying with it for the time being.

As for what would happen if hospitals didn't respond to the general conditions or specific requests in the letter, Richitt said, "That's a good question."

Richitt said the commission is statutorily required to report to the governor annually and to the Legislature every two years, so the outcome of the letter could be included in those reports.

Another option, she said, is write another letter, and "name names."