Vista del Mar Hospital in Ventura, Calif., will longer treat involuntary psychiatric patients due to repeated issues with patient care, the Ventura County Star reported Oct. 11.
The suspension, which begins Oct. 16, concerns issues with patient safety, including physical restraints, discharges against medical advice and deaths, according to county officials. It will reduce the number of hospitals in Ventura County authorized to admit psychiatric patients on an involuntary basis to one.
The 87-bed facility was also the only psychiatric facility to admit adolescents, with the suspension leaving youths in need of involuntary admission to find treatment elsewhere.
The hospital has lost its designation to treat and evaluate involuntary patients under the state's Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. The suspension will run through Dec. 5, when county Behavioral Health Director Loretta Denering, DrPH, intends to ask the board of supervisors to confirm and terminate the hospital's authorization, the report said.