A case that was brought back in 2013 by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, complaining that a Las Vegas psychiatric hospital had systematically put mentally ill people on Greyhound busses to Los Angeles and San Francisco, may finally be ending in a settlement. According to the City Attorney's Office, via the SF Examiner, there is a proposed settlement on the table for the State of Nevada to pay $400,000 in compensation for the medical care of some 24 patients who arrived here since 2008 on one-way tickets.
All the patients came from the state-run Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Vegas, and they were among 500 who came to cities and counties in California.
The details of the settlement have not been disclosed, but Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval gave a statement to the Ex saying that the settlement would help “validate the patient management best practices and procedures which Nevada has had in place for two years.” And, he says, "We look forward to working with California to ensure all patient transfers to and from both states are managed using these best practices and adhering to conditions detailed in the agreement,"referring also to “reciprocal obligations” by San Francisco.
At the time that the complaint was filed, Nevada's deputy attorney general Linda Anderson countered that during the same period Herrera was investigating, Nevada cared for some 770 mentally ill patients from California. “Therefore, it could be argued that the taxpayers of the State of Nevada have subsidized the State of California over $6.2 million during this same period,” she said.
The Nevada Board of Examiners may be approving the settlement as soon as October 13.
Coincidentally enough, John Oliver covered the topic of our national problem in dealing with our mentally ill on last night's Last Week Tonight. And he directly addresses the issue of sticking people on busses to another town at the 6:10 mark.
Previously: San Francisco Sues Nevada For Being A Horrible Neighbor
