COVID-19 Outbreak at Psychiatric Hospital Spurs Lawsuit

Oakland-based Disability Rights California is suing the state to compel it to move people out of a psychiatric hospital that’s battling a COVID-19 outbreak.

About 115 patients and 150 staff have tested positive for the coronavirus and at least two have died at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino.

“These are individuals who are not being punished for a crime,” said Anne Hadreas, an attorney with Disability Rights California. “They are there to receive treatment, that they cannot be held legally under conditions where they are not reasonably safe.”

Advocates say that similar to jails and prisons, COVID-19 spreads easily in locked psychiatric facilities, but there hasn’t been an effort to reduce those populations. There are currently more than 1,500 patients and 2,000 staff at Patton.

Hadreas says they want patients to be discharged to family or transferred to safer facilities where they wouldn’t live in congregate environments.

Richard Hart, 66, a plaintiff in the suit, was sent to Patton after being found not guilty by reason of insanity for a 1998 crime that didn’t “result in bodily harm.” According to the complaint, Hart had lung cancer last year and is at high risk of serious illness if he contracts the virus.

According to Hadreas, Hart has been deemed “low-risk” and doesn’t need treatment aside from medication and twice-monthly therapy.

“Individuals with mental health disabilities shouldn't be left behind in ensuring that we're creating safe spaces for people who have little means to protect themselves,” Hadreas said.

A spokesperson for the California Department of State Hospitals said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation and is following guidance from the California Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other state and local partners in their ongoing COVID-19 response.

— Kate Wolffe (@katewolffe)