[T]he Senate has passed a bill that seeks to clarify a controversial Vermont Supreme Court decision affecting the liability of mental health providers.
The Senate passed the bill, S.3, in a voice vote Tuesday. Senators gave preliminary approval to the bill Friday, with a lone dissenting vote from Sen. Alice Nitka, D-Windsor.
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, said Friday the bill would effectively overturn the decision Kuligoski v. Brattleboro Retreat and Northeast Kingdom Human Services, which the Department of Mental Health has said is contributing to a backlog of psychiatric patients waiting in emergency rooms.
The Department of Mental Health has said the case contributes to the backlog by making mental health providers more likely to seek emergency evaluations of patients and less likely to release patients into the community.
“This is a short bill, but it addresses a very complex issue,” White said on the floor Friday. “While the Supreme Court decision to proceed with the case may seem narrow, it has had widespread impact.”
“It is important to remember that adults who are diagnosed with mental illnesses have the same rights as others, and they are no more likely to be dangerous than the general population,” she said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, sits on the Judiciary Committee, which spearheaded S.3. He said Monday that the reluctance of mental health providers to release patients can’t be quantified, but the bill “can only improve” the situation in emergency rooms.
“What we hope is that it will move people throughout the mental health system more smoothly and appropriately because providers will be less reluctant to advance patients through different levels of care,” Ashe said.
Additionally, Ashe said he has told the Agency of Human Services that the Senate wants a plan to deal with “the problem with people who are inappropriately languishing in emergency rooms” before the end of the session.
Ashe said he has spoken to both Al Gobeille, the secretary of the Agency of Human Services, and Dr. John Brumsted, the chief executive officer of the University of Vermont Health Network, about his desire for a solution to the problem.
