Notice from Disability Law Center

Were you denied voluntary hospitalization because of a bed shortage?  A work group of the State Mental Health Advisory Council is investigating the present serious shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds, particularly in the metro area.  Emergency rooms and psychiatrists are reporting having to send people as far away as Sioux Falls or Winnipeg to access an inpatient psychiatric bed.  Individuals seeking voluntary hospitalization may be put on involuntary transportation holds in order to be sent elsewhere.  This bed shortage is being attributed to inadequate numbers of psychiatrists and to low reimbursement rates for inpatient and psychiatric services.  The Advisory Council workgroup is trying to document individuals’ experiences with inadequate access to voluntary inpatient care.  If you or your child were denied inpatient hospitalization because there were no beds open, or sent elsewhere to be hospitalized, The Disability Law Center would like to talk with you.  All information is confidential.  Please call Patricia Siebert, attorney at The Disability Law Center, at 612-746-3734 or 1-800-292-4150, ext. 234.  If you get a voice mail recording, please leave your name, address and telephone number and you will be called back.

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Last updated on February 13, 2003
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