Marion County sues Oregon State Hospital, OHA after judge orders patients' timely release

This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Marion County filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon State Hospital, contending the state has failed to fund, build and staff enough beds for individuals who need inpatient behavioral health restoration services.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, the day after a federal judge invoked the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution on Marion County, forcing them to accept patients from the state hospital who had stayed beyond limits set by the judge. The supremacy clause, in Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, gives federal law precedence over state law when the two conflict.

County Commissioner Colm Willis said in a prepared statement that the lawsuit was in response to sick and violent people "being pushed out into the community where their behavioral health restoration needs simply cannot be met."

The lack of enough inpatient beds "has had severe, devastating impacts on livability and public safety in our county," Willis said.

Community restoration programs in the county provide behavioral health treatment to defendants still unable to aid in their defense after being released from the state hospital back to the county in which they were charged. The lawsuit contends these programs were not designed to provide care to individuals in need of a hospital-level of care.

"A combination of severe staffing shortages, lack of secure placement options, legal inability to involuntarily administer medication, and concerns regarding provider safety and liability means that many of the individuals on community restoration do not receive the treatment necessary to give them a meaningful chance at restoration," the lawsuit states.

The complaint also highlights "severe concerns for public safety" when individuals charged with violent offenses are sent back to their communities to continue to receive treatment.

The Oregon State Hospital declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The federal court order from Monday states: "The Court specifically declares that orders issued by state court judges in Marion County prohibiting the release of detainees held at Oregon State Hospital for restoration purposes are void under the Supremacy Clause, to the extent that those state court orders tend to prohibit, to restrict, or to impair the release of detainees otherwise subject to release under this Court’s orders."

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman in September 2022 set strict limits on how long aid and assist patients can stay at the state hospital before returning to the county in which they were charged. Mosman's order was intended to help the state hospital get patients in and out of quicker, so defendants could avoid spending lengthy times in county jails while waiting for admission to the hospital.

Marion County, among other counties, appealed the order citing insufficient community resources to treat defendants once released. Mosman denied the appeal but later amended his order to allow counties to request longer stays for patients needing further treatment before they are able to aid their legal counsel.

Since this amendment, Marion County has been holding hearings resulting in orders prohibiting the release of defendants from the state hospital, Mosman's Monday order says.

A dozen aid and assist patients at the state hospital were found in August to no longer need a hospital-level of care, but only two of those defendants were discharged to Marion County, the county where they were charged, according to state hospital data.

Marion County commissioners Kevin Cameron and Colm Willis have previously expressed concerns that communities are not the right place for defendants with "severe and persistent mental illness."

Marion County's lawsuit seeks to have the state increase resources and beds available for those who need behavioral health treatment "and other resources required for inpatient restoration to assist individuals in their own defense, as well as an order for the State to procure these resources."

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: Marion County sues Oregon State Hospital, Oregon Health Authority