Healthcare/Hospital Law
Nov. 14, 2008
Citing Legal Fears, County Turns To Cops to Help Mental Patients
L.A. County's Department of Mental Health has quietly begun refusing to take emergency calls involving the mentally ill when no hospital beds are available. The result: Thousands of people in crisis deal with cops instead of county therapists. The shift angers advocates and some doctors who say it forces police to try to do the job of trained health professionals.
By Evan George
Daily Journal Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - The call for help came on Election Day last week from a Culver City couple scared that their adult son was on the verge of a dangerous mental breakdown. Rather than dial 9-1-1, the couple called a county emergency hotline that normally sends clinicians and therapists to evaluate mental patients and admit them to hospital beds. But the county team did not respond. Three hours later, th...
Daily Journal Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - The call for help came on Election Day last week from a Culver City couple scared that their adult son was on the verge of a dangerous mental breakdown. Rather than dial 9-1-1, the couple called a county emergency hotline that normally sends clinicians and therapists to evaluate mental patients and admit them to hospital beds. But the county team did not respond. Three hours later, th...
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