If AB 1300 helped people access emergency care during a mental health crisis, counties, doctors, people living with mental health conditions, and their families would be the first in line to support it. Instead, the bill represents California’s hospital lobby trying to cut care under the guise of helping those most in need.
Statewide, many hospitals lack psychiatrists and emergency room staff are not required to have the specialized training needed to support people at risk in a psychiatric crisis. It’s no wonder, then, that a 2014 survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness found 44 percent of individuals with serious mental health conditions rated their experience in emergency rooms as “bad” or “very bad,” compared with only 20 percent who rated the experience “good” or “very good.”
Too often, those seeking care reported they were treated disrespectfully, encountered staff who didn’t communicate or listen effectively, or were made to feel ashamed of their condition.
Current law requires someone who, due to a serious mental illness, is at risk of harming themselves or another person to be evaluated by a designated, trained mental health or medical professional before being discharged.
AB 1300, sponsored by the California Hospital Association and authored by Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, removes these lifesaving protections. Under this bill, there is no guarantee that someone brought to the ER by paramedics or law enforcement on a “5150” hold will ever be seen by a psychiatrist, receive medication or treatment, or have family members notified. A person can be released from the ER by an untrained staff member, if the overstretched hospital staff lacks the expertise to intervene.
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