Large L.A. Hospital to Shut Most Psychiatric Services

Citing financial reasons, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles will discontinue its inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services over the next year, the hospital announced late last year.

“We are phasing out parts of our program and not eliminating psychiatry services,” said Sally Stewart, manager of media relations, in an e-mail. The hospital currently houses 51 inpatient beds, although not all are occupied.

Cedars-Sinai will continue providing psychiatric staffing and support for the hospital’s emergency department, transplant center, cancer center, and other clinical areas, she said.

The hospital’s psychiatry residency program will also be phased out, and current residents will finish training either at Cedars-Sinai or other institutions.

“I am very proud of the long list of accomplishments and advances that are the legacy of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences,” said Anand Pandya, M.D., the department’s interim chair, in a statement to Psychiatric News. “The professionalism and dedication of our staff have been unflagging through this transition, and everyone within the department is committed to making this as smooth as possible for patients and psychiatry residents.”

Cedars-Sinai also will offer grants totaling $1.5 million to local organizations that provide direct, community-based mental health services as part of the shift, said Stewart.

The changes occur as California’s inpatient bed capacity has dropped from 8,500 in 1996 to about 6,500 today.

“The patients who need psychiatric services are stacking up at the door and having a hard time getting in,” Randall Hagar, director of government affairs for the California Psychiatric Association, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s getting tough out there.”

A press release about Cedars-Sinai’s plans for psychiatry sesrvices is posted at http://cedars-sinai.edu/About-Us/News/News-Releases-2011-/Cedars-Sinai-to-Phase-Out-Some-Psychiatry-Programs.aspx.