Dive Brief:
- San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit against Nevada in 2013, claiming a state-run psychiatric hospital, Rawson-Neal in Las Vegas, bused patients to the San Francisco area without plans for their care. At least two dozen patients sent to San Francisco required medical care and housing costing $500,000 of city funds.
- Health officials from Nevada acknowledged patients had been discharged and bused out of state without adequate aftercare plans for food, shelter, medication or treatment. Two hospital employees were fired and three received disciplinary action.
- An investigative report by the Sacramento Bee in 2013 discovered Rawson-Neal hospital staff had given up to 1,500 patients one-way bus tickets to California and 46 other states between 2008 and 2013.
Dive Insight:
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said in a statement, "We look forward to working with California to ensure all patient transfers to and from both states are managed using these best practices and adhering to conditions detailed in the agreement."
The settlement includes plans for better management and transfer of patients and must still be approved by the Nevada Board of Examiners and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Herrera said the lawsuit could pave the way for other California jurisdictions to seek restitution from the state for damages similar to those San Francisco claimed, according to Reuters.