State Rep. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, introduced legislation this week that would address the problem of hospital bed shortages at state facilities.
House Bill 778 prohibits courts from ordering a defendant to undergo an inpatient competency evaluation at a facility operated by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services or the Department of Developmental Disabilities unless they have been charged with a felony or violent offense. With the goal of saving lives and making Ohio communities safer, House Bill 778 is a commonsense approach to ensuring that there are more hospital beds readily available to those who need them at state institutions.
“Most state hospitals have waiting lists for available beds and with private psychiatric hospitals not being able to admit people with serious mental illnesses, there is really nowhere for them to turn,” Gavarone said. “This legislation will cut down on the waiting times and get these patients the help they need even faster.”
In current law, if a defendant is released on bail and ordered by the court to undergo a competency evaluation, the individual is required to be transferred to a state facility for that evaluation, using hospital beds that could otherwise be used for mentally ill patients. Gavarone was approached by her local ADAMHS Board about this issue in response to the amount of hospital beds taken up by individuals who are facing misdemeanor charges and could be evaluated in a community facility rather than a state facility.
The bill, having been introduced this week, will be referred to a committee for further consideration.
