Disability Rights Montana

A bill that would increase independent oversight of the Montana State Hospital passed the Senate on Tuesday.

The state’s only psychiatric hospital for adults has been discharging patients to homeless shelters with no plan for care and sometimes without medications, according to a report from a designated watchdog group.

The amended agreement with Alvarez & Marsal went into effect Oct 1.

The Montana State Hospital’s top administrator Kyle Fouts will no longer oversee operations starting May 9. The change comes after federal officials pulled funding at the Warm Springs facility due to patient safety issues.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in February warned the state it could lose funding after they found that the Montana State Hospital didn’t have measures in place to prevent COVID-19 infections and serious falls among patients, which led to four deaths.

This story is part of our series that looks at lasting ways Montana is adapting during the pandemic. It’s funded in part by the Solutions Journalism...

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