Amendment #397 to H3400

DMH inpatient bed study

[Sponsors] Representatives Sullivan of Fall River, Malia of Jamaica Plain, Balser of Newton, Chan of Quincy, Walsh of Boston, O’Connell of Taunton, Provost of Somerville, Cantwell of Marshfield, Levy of Marlborough, Donato of Medford, Aguiar of Fall River, Dwyer of Woburn, Koczera of New Bedford, Garballey of Arlington, Benson of Lunenburg, Naughton of Clinton, Canavan of Brockton, Canessa of New Bedford, Fox of Boston, Schmid of Westport, Scaccia of Boston, Forry of Dorchester, and McMurtry of Dedham move that the bill be amended in Section 2, in item 5095-0015 in line 21 by inserting after the word “facilities” the following words:-

; provided further, that the department shall not close any existing inpatient hospital beds until there is an independent analysis to determine whether there is sufficient capacity in the  inpatient public mental health system to effectively and appropriately meet the needs of individuals suffering from mental illness;

Said independent analysis shall include, but not be limited, to analysis of the current inpatient public hospital system and whether individuals are receiving timely access to state hospital beds.