Consultant Suggests Fixes For Oregon State Hospital Admission Woes

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A consultant hired as part of a legal settlement has released recommendations for the Oregon State Hospital to at least temporarily ease a crisis of slow admissions and overwhelmed capacity.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Dr. Debra Pinals, a behavioral health director from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, delivered her first of two reports this week.

It comes after a monthlong review of practices at the state-run psychiatric hospital.

The 20-page report makes recommendations including making more efforts to discharge or avoid the admission of patients who don’t need hospital-level care.

It also advises the use of the hospital’s Junction City unit for newly-admitted patients and tracking patient admissions through a uniform data system.