It’s a story that sounds more like an urban legend than a reality, but San Francisco is now launching an investigation into accusations that mental health patients are being “dumped” on city services. The reports, if proved to be true, are being described as “inhumane and illegal.”
There have been multiple reports of confused, suicidal, and disturbed individuals turning up in San Francisco from Nevada. The report emerged after a Sacramento Bee investigation found that a psychiatric hospital outside of Las Vegas has bused 500 patients to California between 2008 and 2013. In total, the hospital is being accused of bussing 1,500 patients to other cities and states.
Others are aware of the charges, including Los Angeles and the Joint Commission which evaluates hospitals nationwide. The U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is also reviewing the hospital’s discharge practices.
Read the full story at the Sacramento Bee.