Medication Nation

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1897566.html

Mental health center open again to new patients

Published: Thursday, May. 28, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 2B

The Sacramento County Mental Health Treatment Center has reopened its doors to new patients, officials announced Wednesday.

Last Friday, the facility closed its crisis unit – the main point of entry for the 100-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital – in response to overcrowding that threatened to bring state sanctions.

Increased caseloads combined with the county’s budget woes led to the situation. Mental health advocates say the county’s cuts to outpatient services put too much of a burden on the inpatient facility. At midyear the center ran out of money to outsource patients to other facilities and for the past four to six weeks had seen its census regularly rise above 100.

Dorian Kittrell, the center’s executive director, said mental health officials will monitor the facility’s numbers closely and will temporarily close again if and when the center reaches capacity.

– Robert Lewis