Marion County asks judge to allow lawsuit to proceed against Oregon State Hospital, state

Marion County asked a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge Wednesday to allow a lawsuit against the Oregon State Hospital and Oregon Health Authority to proceed for allegedly failing to fund, build and staff enough beds for individuals who need inpatient behavioral health restoration services.

Marion County filed its lawsuit the day after a federal judge invoked the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, forcing the county to accept patients from the state hospital who had stayed beyond limits set by the judge.

Jane Vetto, the county's lawyer, said the state has not compensated Marion County for the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” spent on community restoration.

Vetto said the county cannot continue caring for high-level patients without proper resources, and that the state has failed to comply with statutes requiring the OHA to manage state hospital campuses and the hospital to maintain custody of committed individuals until they no longer require a hospital level of care.

“We’re not going to be bullied,” she told Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Henry Kantor. “We’re not going to be told to go stand in the corner while our programs bear the brunt of their failure to comply with state statutes.”

The state hospital and OHA contend the county has no standing for their claims and last month asked Kantor to dismiss the case.

Jonathan Monson, the lawyer representing the OHA and state hospital, pointed out the federal court has ruled against Marion County multiple times, and he said the county is using the lawsuit as another means to argue the same thing.

The county has failed to prove it has been affected by state statutes, Monson said, and has misinterpreted state statutes. They are not providing any actual disputes, just complaints about state hospital and OHA operations, he said.

“What I haven’t heard throughout this whole argument is what the actual dispute is,” said Monson.

The county has asked the judge to declare whether the hospital and OHA are in compliance, and if not, order them to gain compliance with state statutes.

Kantor, who was assigned to the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest with Marion County judges, acknowledged the county’s frustration but expressed uncertainty that his ruling would have any impact.

Kantor said he expects to make a decision soon and hopes it will play a significant role in tackling the ongoing debate on how to address Oregon’s behavioral health crisis.

Marion County’s fight for relief

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman in September 2022 set strict limits on how long aid and assist patients, those unable to aid in their defense due to a behavioral health condition, can stay at the state hospital before returning to the county in which they were charged.

Marion County and others have pushed back on the federal order, saying there are not enough community resources to treat defendants who need a higher level of care once released.

Marion County, among other counties, appealed the original order, which was denied by Mosman.

Mosman later amended his order to allow counties to request longer stays for patients who needed further treatment. Following the amendment, courts in Marion County held hearings resulting in orders prohibiting the release of defendants from the state hospital, which led Mosman to invoke the supremacy clause.

Marion County commissioners Kevin Cameron and Colm Willis have said they are frustrated that the federal order is allowing people who are sick and violent to be released into the community where their needs cannot be properly met.

The county's lawsuit contends community restoration programs that provide behavioral health treatment to defendants still unable to aid in their defense were not designed to provide care to individuals in need of a hospital level of care.

The county believes a ruling on the hospital’s inability to provide sufficient restorative care would compel them to allocate resources to comply with the federal order from Mosman and state statutes.

Vetto said the purpose of the county's lawsuit is to make a declaration on the state agencies’ compliance with state law and provide relief to county for the financial impact of the increased number of defendants they have had to care for.

“We have to use temporary beds for a long time, much longer than we normally have to, and we have to restore them,” she said.

Marion County wants the hospital to admit noncompliance and work toward increasing staffing and adding more facility beds, so they have the capacity to care for the patients who need a hospital level of care.

Vetto acknowledged that the hospital has been able to gain compliance with the federal order to admit patients waiting for a hospital bed within seven days, but she said they have more work to do.

“They have to comply with federal constitutional law and they have to follow state statutory obligations,” said Vetto.

OHA and the state hospital believe a judgement on this lawsuit will do “absolutely nothing” to make changes that satisfy Marion County’s complaints and maintain that is not up to the county to tell them how to best operate and staff their facilities, Monson said.

“It is not the prerogative of the court to go and direct a state agency how to allocate funding,” he said.

Sydney Wyatt covers healthcare inequities in the Mid-Willamette Valley for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions, and tips to her at SWyatt@gannett.com, (503) 399-6613, or on Twitter @sydney_elise44

The Statesman Journal’s coverage of healthcare inequities is funded in part by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which seeks to strengthen the cultural, social, educational, and spiritual base of the Pacific Northwest through capacity-building investments in the nonprofit sector.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Judge to decide if Marion County can sue Oregon State Hospital