New York State Assembly Democrats Say They Will Investigate Placement of Mentally Ill in Nursing Homes

New York state Assembly Democrats on Oct. 9 said they will investigate Gov. George Pataki (R) administration's decision to move patients from state psychiatric hospitals to nursing homes, alleging that the policy was "carried out in secret" and "should have been approved by the Legislature" the New York Times reports (Levy, New York Times, 10/10). In addition, gubernatorial candidate H. Carl McCall (D) on Oct. 10 called for federal investigation of the practice (McKinley, New York Times, 10/11). According to a story in the Times, since 1996, mentally ill patients have been discharged from state hospitals to isolated floors in nursing homes, where they cannot go outside and have almost no ability to oppose their detention. Administration officials have said that the patients are "allowed to come and go as they pleased," the Times reports. Assembly member Martin Luster (D), chair of the Mental Health Committee, questioned whether the Pataki administration has the legal authority to carry out the transfer. "This is an obvious cost-cutting measure that was done by the bean counters instead of people who really care about the mentally ill," Luster added. But Robert Hinckley, a spokesperson for Pataki, said the Democrats are "grandstanding," adding, "What the Assembly Democrats should be holding hearings on is their failures and their neglect of the mentally ill for the past 30 years" (New York Times, 10/10).