Dive Brief:
- According to the director of a homeless shelter in Jackson, MS, Merit Health Central, a Community Health Systems hospital, has dropped four patients off at the shelter in the past week.
- Three of the patients were not homeless; all of them had mental health issues, which the shelter says it is not equipped to deal with.
- The shelter provides daytime services to homeless people, such as shower and laundry facilities and respite from severe weather. It closes each day at 4:00 p.m.
Dive Insight:
Emergency Department Director Dr. Richard Miles, whose name was on the paperwork of two of the patients, said he thought the hospital had an arrangement with the shelter. Christie Burnett, the shelter's director, said there was no such agreement.
In an e-mailed statement, Merit Health spokeswoman Jana Fuss said, "Merit Health Central offers limited acute adult behavioral health services, or short term stabilization for patients who are a danger to themselves or others, but is not designed for or have the capacity to offer long-term treatment. Given the general shortage of psychiatric services in Jackson, there are times when our behavioral beds are full and cannot accommodate additional patients."
Community Health Systems last year purchased six Mississippi hospitals, including Merit Health Central, and 36 affiliated clinics to form Merit Health.