Sydney Burling

If I could do no stars I would. This is probably one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. My loved one signed himself in voluntarily and after 24 hours realized that he would benefit more from an outpatient program so he can get actual therapy. I am a social worker and have been working very hard To get my loved one set up with the services he needs and we made the mistake of bringing him to a place where we were under the impression they would be doing what he needed, and that was not the case. They started the discharge request, but told him he had to wait until the next morning to speak with the psychiatrist. When the psychiatrist came, he told him he wanted him to stay one more day. I called and spoke with the nurse Joey to ask him to tell me legally how they are able to hold him if he is not baker acted. He said it’s a “process” and when I asked to be read the lines in the paperwork that state they can hold my loved one for 72 hours he told me to “google it”. So I did my research and found that if someone admits voluntarily and requests to discharge then the facility must discharge that person within 24 hours of their initial request and we were almost at the 24 hours. If the psychiatrist disagrees with the person discharging, then they can choose to petition for a baker act with the court. I called Joey back and explained this to him and he said he would talk to the doctor and call me back. My loved one called me back and told me he signed a paper agreeing to leave the next day because someone came to him and scared him by telling him they will baker act him in court. My loved one then decided to tell them he changed his mind and he would like to leave same day again. Joey spoke with the doctor and I got a call back from him stating that the doctor signed a “right to release form” but will still discharge home tomorrow. AGAIN, I asked Joey legally what gives them the right to hold him against his will if he is not baker acted. He talked in circles and told me he will talk to the doctor again. Then I get a call from my loved one saying they are going to baker act him!!! My loved one was not having active suicidal ideations or thoughts of harming himself or others, meaning that there are no grounds to baker act him. Of course when I Google it, I find out that if a doctor decides they want to petition for the baker act they have 24 hours to do so! I called Joey back and asked him if the doctor has decided to petition in order to buy himself 24 hours and will conveniently rescind the baker act in the morning so my loved one can discharge. He literally said “that is correct”. HOW UNETHICAL! I asked to speak to the psychiatrist so I can understand on what grounds he feels it is appropriate to baker act my loved one and he said “you can’t talk to him today he’s busy”.

Needless to say, I feel terrible for the people in there that aren’t able to fight for themselves, it is such a broken system. These people clearly don’t know the laws. I will continue to spread this message and have contacted a lawyer.