The California Hospital Association has criticized proposed staffing regulations from the California Department of Public Health, warning the rules could immediately shutter hundreds of psychiatric beds and disrupt behavioral healthcare statewide.
The proposal requires freestanding psychiatric hospitals to meet heightened staffing levels by Jan. 31, giving facilities less than two weeks to recruit, hire, vet and train new staff.
“In a proposal that is as baffling as it is irresponsible, new regulations … will prevent Californians from getting the mental health care they desperately need,” CHA said in a Jan. 20 news release shared with Becker’s.
Hospitals that cannot meet the requirements in time will be forced to reduce capacity. More than 800 psychiatric beds will likely sit empty, which will equate to a loss of access for more than 16,000 patients annually, or about 1,360 patients per month, according to the association. That includes beds for children and adolescents, a population for whom alternatives are already scarce.
CHA warns that the consequences will cascade beyond behavioral health services. Patients in crisis may be held for days in emergency rooms, delaying care for others with urgent conditions like strokes or heart attacks.
“Hospitals are committed to safe staffing and to enhancing current staffing levels,” the association said. “Ensuring that they hire the right people to care for California’s most vulnerable takes time, especially during a nationwide workforce shortage of psychiatric care professionals.”
The proposal also appears to undercut recent state efforts to expand mental health infrastructure, including Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pledge to add hundreds of new psychiatric beds.
“In the past, Gov. Newsom has been a champion for improving mental health care — just recently touting hundreds of new beds his investments are building — but this new policy does the opposite, reducing access to care for those in need,” CHA President and CEO Carmela Coyle said. “We call on Gov. Newsom to be pragmatic … by allowing the time needed to make changes without forcing caregivers to stop the good work they do.”
