Report: state hospital discharging patients to homeless shelters

The state’s psychiatric hospital for adults has been discharging sufferers to homeless shelters with no plan for care and typically with out medicines, based on a report from a delegated watchdog group.

Incapacity Rights Montana’s report discovered at the least 16 cases of state hospital sufferers being discharged straight to homeless shelters, which the organizations says aren’t geared up to look after current psychiatric sufferers who usually want ongoing care or prescriptions.

Govt Director Bernie Franks-Ongoy says discharge paperwork reviewed by Incapacity Rights Montana recommend the apply of discharging sufferers to homeless shelters is widespread.

“There’s a line on these paperwork that say ‘discharge the place?’ And there’s selections. One is ‘private residence’, ‘lodge’, ‘homeless shelter’. It’s sufficient of a apply that it’s on the shape,” Franks-Ongoy mentioned.

Incapacity Rights Montana is the federally designated civil rights group for Montanans with a incapacity.

“When a affected person now not meets the authorized and medical standards required to stay hospitalized on the facility, the Division can’t hold them in its custody,” mentioned Montana Division of Public Well being and Human Companies spokesperson Jon Ebelt in an emailed assertion.

Ebelt mentioned sufferers can find yourself in homeless shelters as a result of there’s nowhere else to go as a consequence of an absence of group assets. He mentioned the state well being division is working to enhance discharge planning.

Franks-Ongoy mentioned Incapacity Rights continues to be trying into how the hospital defines standards for discharge.

“There didn’t appear to be a rhyme or purpose why Joe, Susie and Mary have been discharged however folks weren’t discharged,” Franks-Ongoy mentioned.

A number of homeless shelters in Incapacity Rights Montana’s report and others contacted MTPR mentioned the state hospital has been “chilly dropping” sufferers at their doorways for years.

Brayton Erickson with Butte Rescue Mission mentioned his group sees sufferers discharged to their doorways as much as 4 occasions a month, typically with nothing greater than a t-shirt throughout the chilly winter months.

“They simply have a sheet of paper they usually’re like ‘that is who I’m and these are the meds I’m imagined to be taking, are you able to assist me?’” Erickson mentioned.

Ericson says shelters are unable to deal with some sufferers due to violent conduct. He says that forces them again onto the streets.

“They wind up again in jail basically,” Erickson mentioned, including that that usually means a visit again to the state hospital

Butte Rescue Mission and different shelters say they’ve repeatedly requested the state hospital to cease discharging sufferers to their services.

Franks-Ongoy hopes Incapacity Rights’ report will push the state to finish the apply of discharging sufferers to shelters.

She mentioned that at the least two sufferers documented within the report tried suicide quickly after being discharged to shelters and one affected person jumped to his dying from a constructing in Portland days after disappearing from the shelter he was discharged to in Montana.

“That ought to by no means, ever occur. He wasn’t able to be discharged,” Franks-Ongoy mentioned.

Franks-Ongoy mentioned her group is keen to take the state to courtroom over these circumstances if the state hospital’s discharge practices don’t enhance.