Mental health progress uneven since California county shooting

Abstract

Nine months after a task force urged the expansion of intensive psychiatric services following a mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, Ventura County hospitals in California are preparing to bolster capacity in both inpatient and outpatient centers, the Ventura County Star reported Nov. 7. Health officials say the shooting two years ago at the Borderline Bar & Grill, where 12 people were killed, helped draw attention to the shortage and strengthen resolve to end it, but that the expansion was largely driven by the need in the community. No evidence has come forth publicly to show that additional crisis beds would have prevented the attack. The number of inpatient psychiatric beds in Ventura County totals 85, well off the 270 acute‐care beds that existed 20 years ago in the county and just outside its borders, according to a report presented in October to the board of supervisors. About 30 beds were lost when a portion of Vista del Mar burned in 2017 in the Thomas Fire, but others disappeared when units in local hospitals closed or were cut in size. About 70% of patients in California who are brought to emergency rooms on mental health holds never go to a psychiatric hospital, so other measures are needed, said Sheree Lowe, vice president for behavioral health at the California Hospital Association.