Oregon State Hospital meets compliance with 20-year-old court order
Oregon State Hospital has gained compliance for the first time since 2019 with a court order to admit within seven days individuals the courts have deemed unable to aid in their defense on criminal charges.
A federal judge in 2002 ruled in favor of advocacy group Disability Rights Oregon, saying the state of Oregon had to expedite commitment of defendants with persistent mental health conditions who had been spending lengthy wait times in jail. In 2019, the hospital was ordered to comply with the Mink order, named after Bobby Mink, then the director of Oregon's Department of Human Services.
As the hospital struggled to meet the seven day standard, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman recently set strict timelines for how long and limiting what types of patients can stay at the state hospitals in Salem and Junction City.
Mosman also consolidated the Mink order with another court order from 2022 applying to guilty except for insanity patients who committed a crime but did so without intent due to a mental illness. It has become known as the Mink-Bowman order.
The hospital has been in compliance with Mink-Bowman since July 20. In August, individuals on aid and assist orders were admitted within an average of 6.3 days and within 5 days for guilty except for insanity commits, according to state hospital data.
“It is significant that for the first time in years the state is meeting their constitutional obligations, but I want them to be able to maintain this,” said Emily Cooper, legal director of Disability Rights Oregon.
Half a decade of capacity challenges
In June 2019, a federal court ordered Oregon State Hospital to comply with Mink-Bowman within 90 days. They initially met the deadline, then the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges, including staffing shortages, and the state was granted a “pass” on complying in 2020.
The state hospital has consistently struggled to meet wait time requirements since then.
The patient population also has shifted since 2019, with aid and assist defendants making up the majority of the population.
Oregon State Hospital Superintendent Dolly Matteucci has said aid and assist patients are a much more difficult population to manage, as many of them have received no prior mental health treatment and may be experiencing more severe symptoms of their behavioral health condition.
The continued staffing shortages and a larger percentage of patients needing a higher level of care made it challenging for the hospital to get patients in and out of the hospital in a timely manner.
A federal judge intervened
In September 2022, Mosman ordered the state hospital to release aid and assist patients with misdemeanor charges from the hospital within 90 days, felony charges within six months, and “violent felony” or “person-centered” charges within a year.
Releasing patients quicker, Mosman said, would free up space for defendants waiting in jail to be admitted to the hospital sooner.
Mosman’s order was based on recommendations made by Dr. Debra Pinals, a neutral expert chosen by the Oregon Health Authority, Disability Rights Oregon and the Metropolitan Public Defender to create a plan to address capacity challenges.
The hospital struggled to meet Mosman’s requirements as the number of new patients continued to increase.
Cooper said she and Disability Rights Oregon educated prosecutors and county courts on the role of the hospital in an aid and assist commitment for patients to receive “competency restoration” intended to restore their ability to aid their lawyers, not long-term mental health care.
“People were essentially sent to the state hospital for pre-trial detention for years,” said Cooper.
Mosman twice amended his order to give counties more time to prepare for discharges, increase civil commitments of those who pose an immediate danger to themselves or others, and change aid and assist commitment requirements.
Following a July amendment to his order, individuals with non-person-centered misdemeanor charges can no longer be admitted to the state hospital.
This amendment, said Cooper, has made some of the difference in reducing the number of people waiting for admission, and could be helping drop the wait times.
Cooper said she is “cautiously optimistic” about these recent successes, as the Mosman order is scheduled to lift in December.
She said she believes the Oregon Legislature needs to codify the timelines in statute.
“The legislature has a chance to fix this permanently for Oregon,” said Cooper.
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: Oregon State Hospital meets compliance with court order
