Ventura hospital suspended from admitting involuntary patients

Private Ventura Hospital says it can no longer treat involuntary mentally ill patients under a moratorium starting Monday due to repeated problems with patient care, including deaths, discharges without following medical advice and physical restraints in violation of policy. This was announced by county authorities.

In an Oct. 9 letter to Vista Del Mar Hospital CEO Colton Reed, Acting County Behavioral Health Director Loretta Denaring said the negative results did not meet the requirements. It listed 24 problems, mainly those that had not been implemented properly, and “chronic and persistent” errors over the two years since 1996. Denering will suspend the hospital’s license, she said, citing these issues and the “lack of progress” made by the psychiatric facility authority to resolve the issues.

Mr. Reed did not return three calls from The Star seeking comment.

After the moratorium went into effect at 8 a.m. Monday, Ventura County will have only one hospital authorized to admit involuntary psychiatric patients, with the 43-bed Hillmont Psychiatric Unit at Ventura County Medical Center the only local option. Become.

Vista del Mar has traditionally welcomed both youth and adults. The facility has 87 licensed beds, according to state records. It is the only psychiatric hospital in the county that admits juveniles, meaning juveniles receiving involuntary treatment will have to go to another hospital.

Vista Del Mar is losing its involuntary patient treatment and evaluation designation under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, California’s landmark law that allows forced treatment in limited circumstances. The case continues until Dec. 5, when Denaring plans to ask the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to confirm the decision and terminate the hospital’s license.

The hospital remains licensed and voluntary patients can continue to be treated there, according to Denering’s letter.

Dr. Jason Cooper, Hillmont’s medical director, said he expects the suspension will result in longer emergency room wait times before patients are admitted to psychiatric hospitals and more admissions to hospitals outside Ventura County. He said that

Denering cited a series of problems that arise immediately after a patient is discharged from the hospital and during their stay in the hospital. That includes the May 2022 “risky discharge” of David Hetzlein, the Camarillo man accused of killing and dismembering his mother shortly after his release.

In June, County Behavioral Health Director Scott Gilman issued a notice to Vista Del Mar, saying the facility was violating patient rights. He cited the Hetzlein case, but also said the case established violations by state officials, including patient-on-patient assault, disclosure of protected health information, patient injury, and improper administration of antipsychotic medications.

For undisclosed reasons, Denering will fill in for Gilman while he is on leave.

Her letter lists 22 findings regarding problems with care at the facility and errors in discharge planning. He said two patients died within days of being discharged from the hospital, one patient was discharged after receiving another patient’s medication, and five patients were restrained or isolated without a doctor’s order and were treated in the hospital by patients. said the rape allegation was not reported. Additionally, some patient units were operating without the required level of staff, she said.

Two of the findings involved what were described as persistent and chronic errors. These included the fact that the patient was discharged despite the doctor’s wishes and a legal order restraining the patient was still in effect.

The hospital submitted a corrective action plan in response to Gilman’s four-month notice, but Denaring deemed the response insufficient.

The response indicates that staff training has been upgraded to address findings regarding patient discharge planning, administration of psychotropic medications, patient privacy, and suicide prevention.

In his letter, Denaring said that based on the responses and subsequent information the county continues to receive regarding hospital practices, the agency has established a “detailed, reliable and regularly monitored system” to protect patient rights. He said he could find no evidence of a “plan to do so.”

Rather, he said, Vista Del Mar appears to be using a “reactive strategy” to let the problem persist until it gets the attention of regulators before developing a remediation plan.

Denering said frequent personnel changes often result in deficiencies being blamed on former employees, while requests for needed equipment are ignored or deferred to corporate personnel rather than those responsible for the facility’s day-to-day operations. He said that

Denering said she took this action, at least in part, because of the unique vulnerabilities of patients being treated under the involuntary treatment provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. He said that.

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