The California Department of Public Health has delayed implementation of emergency staffing regulations for psychiatric hospitals, originally slated for Jan. 31, following pushback from the public and hospitals, according to a Jan. 26 letter summary.
The department now expects to adopt staffing regulations by June 1 and has advised psychiatric hospitals to continue recruiting staff in preparation for nurse-to-patient ratios, which are expected to remain the same as those stated in the draft.
Under the original timeline, hospitals would have had less than two weeks to recruit, hire and train new staff. Facilities that could not meet the new staffing requirements would have been forced to reduce patient capacity and leave a total of 800 psychiatric beds unavailable, equating to 16,000 patients losing access annually, according to a Jan. 20 California Hospital Association news release criticizing the proposal that was shared with Becker’s.
“In a proposal that is as baffling as it is irresponsible, new regulations … will prevent Californians from getting the mental health care they desperately need,” the association added. The association also cautioned the rule could lead to delays to emergency care.
The requirements say facilities must staff at least one nurse for every six adult patients and one nurse for every five adolescent patients. At least 50% of nurses counted toward staffing ratios must be registered nurses, with all awake and on duty in the hospital. The department will have until July 31, 2027, to finalize permanent regulations, incorporating feedback from front-line employees and hospital operators.
The staffing requirements were prompted by an investigative series into widespread dysfunction, abuse and understaffing at California behavioral health hospitals published by the San Francisco Chronicle.
In 1999, Gov. Gray Davis signed a law requiring hospitals to meet fixed nurse-to-patient ratios, making California the first state to do so.
