Inpatient Committee Meeting Minutes
November 3, 2022
10:04-10:30 am
The meeting was called to order at 10:04 am.
Attendees: Dennis Hopkins and Shirley Davis
We spoke about 4 topics we consider critical.
1. There still needs to be a list of available hospital beds calculated and made available to emergency departments around the state. Now that 988 emergency teams are in place, they also will need to know where to take people.
2. Illinois needs respite care for youth so that 988 crisis teams have a place to take youth who do not need to be hospitalized but cannot return home.
3. People deemed unfit to stand trial are languishing in jails around the state because there are no available beds. There were 105 people in jail unfit to stand trial at the last count.
4. People are still staying in the emergency departments of hospitals because there are no available beds, or they are disconnected from knowing where to look for them.
Overall, we believe there is a desperate need for more mental health beds in Illinois.
The committee also discussed how frustrating we feel because we report the same issues, but no movement is made to resolve them.
The meeting closed by unanimous consent at 10:30 am.
