Nevada hospital draws ire

City attorneys from San Francisco and Sacramento are seeking compensation for costs related to a Nevada psychiatric hospital’s practice of busing mental patients to California.

In February, a confused and suicidal patient’s arrival in Sacramento prompted an investigation that revealed Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas had sent about 1,500 psychiatric patients out of state since 2008, and roughly a third of those to California, according to The Sacramento Bee.

In an Aug. 20 letter to Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said he is seeking at least $500,000 in reimbursement for housing and care of a number of discharged Rawson-Neal patients, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. Twenty patients required emergency medical care shortly after they arrived in San Francisco.

Both Herrera and Sacramento City Attorney James Sanchez said they will pursue legal action if Nevada does not reimburse their respective cities.