Patton State Hospital inoculates 65% of sufferers to assist stem lethal COVID-19 outbreak – San Bernardino Solar

Amid a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, Patton State Hospital vaccinated nearly 65% ​​of its patients with their first dose of vaccine, an attorney for the attorney general said on Friday, Jan. 22.

Patton urged that all of his consenting patients be vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine by Friday, but it remained unclear whether it achieved that goal.

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Tillman told U.S. District Court judge Jesus G. Bernal during a conference call on Friday that 812 patients and 1,295 employees – more than 50% of all employees – had been vaccinated on Thursday, January 21.

The Department of State Hospitals is facing litigation from a disability rights nonprofit that is alarmed by the outbreak and an urge by Bernal to vaccinate all consenting staff and patients. It is working to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus in Patton and the state’s four other psychiatric hospitals in Atascadero, Coalinga, Napa and Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

Disability rights attorneys California originally wanted to transfer more than 300 high-risk patients to safer, non-congregational facilities during the outbreak, but is now holding back while the state works to resolve the issue.

Bernal on Friday asked the state for more information about the number of patients who have not consented to be vaccinated or who have a disease that precludes vaccination. Patton hosts approximately 1,200 patients, most of whom are referred by the courts.

Bernal also requested information from the state on how many conservators – those acting on behalf of 217 Patton patients who lack the ability to self-consent – have given or denied consent to patient vaccinations.

Tillman told Bernal the hospital hadn’t documented which patients had refused the vaccination. “Those patients who did not consent did not have to sign any documents. I don’t think there is any data on the number of patients who did not consent, ”Tillman said. She told Bernal she needed to review public relations for patient conservators and how many had either given or refused to consent to the vaccination.

Anne Hadreas, a patient plaintiff attorney, requested information from the state about the number of patients in Patton who have not yet been given an opportunity to consent or disapprove of the vaccine, as well as a schedule of when the patients will receive their second dose of the vaccine.

As of Friday, 531 patients had tested positive for the potentially fatal virus and 16 patients have died since May 30. As of January 20, 58 patients had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the previous 14 days, according to a statement filed Thursday in court by Patton Executive Director Janine Wallace.

On January 12, the Department of State Hospitals suspended the admission of patients who were involuntarily compelled to examine, as well as those who were declared incapable of trial or found not guilty because of insanity in the trial. temporarily for up to 30 days.

Patton tops the state’s five hospitals in terms of the number of patients infected with COVID-19 and ranks second in terms of the number of patient deaths. Coalinga State Hospital reported 19 deaths Friday, according to Department of State Hospital tracking data. Patton is the largest of the state’s five hospitals.

Bernal ordered the state to provide the court with all requested information by the end of the business day on Tuesday, January 26, and to schedule the next telephone hearing for January 29.