AP

Oregon psychiatric hospital must cap stays for defendants

Sep 1, 2022, 12:14 PM | Updated: 12:41 pm

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the Oregon State Hospital must limit the amount of time it can hold patients charged with crimes, in a bid to create space at the overcrowded hospital for criminal defendants who need mental health treatment but are housed in jails.

The psychiatric hospital in the state capital Salem doesn’t have enough personnel or enough space to add more beds but 73 defendants are currently in jail awaiting court-mandated mental health treatment before they can stand trial, according to court filings.

The historic hospital — the setting for Ken Kesey’s acclaimed novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and the location where the award-winning movie adaptation was filmed — has struggled for years with staffing and patient backlogs.

Monday’s ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman caps hospital stays at three months for people charged with a misdemeanor, six months for felony charges and a year for violent felonies including murder and rape. It seeks to speed up hospital discharges to make more beds available for incoming defendants who need treatment, but some prosecutors worry it will prematurely release patients who have yet to stand trial into communities not equipped to treat them.

The situation in Oregon is emblematic of a nationwide crisis facing mental health hospitals.

Staffing shortages in states from Arizona to Missouri to Michigan have forced providers to close psychiatric beds or entire mental health wards, diminishing the country’s capacity to treat patients in need of care.

Aiming to address the issue, Michigan lawmakers in July approved a budget including $325 million for a new state psychiatric facility and about $58 million to create more beds at the state’s sole psychiatric hospital for children.

In Oregon, this week’s decision came in response to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Portland by Disability Rights Oregon, an advocacy group, and Metropolitan Public Defender, a nonprofit criminal defense law firm. The two groups, citing a “constitutional crisis,” asked the court to take steps to enforce a previous federal court order requiring the hospital to admit defendants in a timely manner.

The 2002 order, resulting from a lawsuit also filed by Disability Rights Oregon, mandated the state hospital admit defendants within seven days of being referred by a court.

But the hospital in recent years has struggled to adhere to that admission period, and staffing shortages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have made the situation worse. Defendants “suffering from acute mental illness” have spent months in jail in violation of that order, plaintiffs said in court filings last week.

Average wait times from early to mid-August stretched as long as 38 days, among the longest they have ever been.

“Their experience waiting in jail can be horrific,” said Jesse Merrithew, the attorney representing Metropolitan Public Defender. “As a result of their mental illnesses, they’re exhibiting behaviors that the jails will punish.”

Emily Cooper, legal director for Disability Rights Oregon, said this week’s ruling recognized “the value of individual patients’ lives and and a court’s authority to enforce the constitution.”

The new limits on defendant hospital stays mean approximately 100 patients are now eligible for release, Oregon State Hospital spokesperson Amber Shoebridge said in an emailed statement. Patients will be discharged gradually and sent to treatment facilities in their home counties over the next six months, she said. The facility will give counties 30 days’ notice before a patient is discharged.

The hospital, which is overseen by the Oregon Health Authority, didn’t oppose the motion.

But three district attorneys from counties in the Portland suburbs and Salem say the decision threatens public safety and hurts victims.

Mosman granted their request to intervene in the case and gave them until January to monitor the release of defendants and the hospital’s admissions data.

Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton told The Associated Press the ruling could spark a “cascade of unintended consequences.”

“When these people who are at the hospital hit those expiration dates of 90, 180 and 365 days, they just get released back to the counties with no real plan for what happens next,” said Barton, whose county includes affluent suburbs to the west of Portland.

Smaller, rural counties often lack the mental health resources that larger, urban counties can provide and might not be able adequately treat the patients being released into their communities, Barton said.

The plaintiffs’ request to cap defendant hospital stays at three, six or twelve months depending on the charges against them was based on a court-ordered review of the state hospital’s admissions.

The court last year appointed an independent expert to study the hospital’s capacity issues and recommend solutions. The expert report published in June estimated the caps could bring the hospital back into compliance with admissions wait times by February.

____

Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Claire on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ClaireARush.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

A demonstrator in Tel Aviv holds a sign calling for a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israel war on Nov. 21...

Associated Press

Hamas releases a third group of hostages as part of truce, and says it will seek to extend the deal

The fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the first American was released under a four-day truce.

5 days ago

Men look over the site of a deadly explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 18, ...

Associated Press

New AP analysis of last month’s deadly Gaza hospital explosion rules out widely cited video

The Associated Press is publishing an updated visual analysis of the deadly Oct. 17 explosion at Gaza's Al-Ahli Hospital.

8 days ago

Peggy Simpson holds a photograph of law enforcement carrying Lee Harvey Oswald's gun through a hall...

Associated Press

JFK assassination remembered 60 years later by surviving witnesses to history, including AP reporter

Peggy Simpson is among the last surviving witnesses who are sharing their stories as the nation marks the 60th anniversary.

8 days ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, ...

Associated Press

Israeli Cabinet approves cease-fire with Hamas; deal includes release of 50 hostages

Israel’s Cabinet on Wednesday approved a cease-fire deal with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to a devastating war.

9 days ago

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump helps serve food to Texas Natio...

Associated Press

Trump receives endorsement from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a visit to a US-Mexico border town

Donald Trump picked up the Texas governor’s endorsement Sunday during a visit to a U.S.-Mexico border town.

11 days ago

Eric Trump, executive vice president of Trump Organization Inc., speaks to the media as he leaves f...

Associated Press

Lawyers in Trump’s civil fraud trial are ordered to clam up about judge’s communications with staff

Eric Trump testified Friday that he was relying on accountants to ensure the accuracy of financial statements.

27 days ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @KTAR923...

West Hunsaker at Morris Hall supports Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona

KTAR's Community Spotlight this month focuses on Morris Hall and its commitment to supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University: innovating Arizona health care education

Midwestern University’s Glendale Campus near Loop 101 and 59th Avenue is an established leader in health care education and one of Arizona’s largest and most valuable health care resources.

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

Oregon psychiatric hospital must cap stays for defendants