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A Dangerous Wait for Treatment

By Kristin Houle

Here are some excerpts from an article that appeared on December 9, 2007 in the Austin-American Statesman, "After policy change, ERs seeing more mentally ill patients":"It's been one month since Austin's mental health authority slashed the number of patients it sends to the Austin State Hospital. Since then, nearly 30 people with mental health crises have been routed to local emergency rooms, which don't have adequate expertise or facilities to deal with psychiatric patients. The number of Travis County prisoners with mental illness waiting to be transferred to a state hospital has jumped from 30 to 43. And local health officials don't know when relief will come." ..."The mental health center runs the county's public mental health system. The quasi-nonprofit, which operates on government and private dollars, provides psychiatric care for low-income, uninsured and indigent people...continue to full post

Full post as published by Prevention Not Punishment on December 10, 2007 (boomark / email).