The board of directors at Oceanside, Calif.-based Tri-City Medical Center delayed suspending the hospital's 18-bed locked mental health unit during a meeting Aug. 21, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The suspension, initially slated for Aug. 26, will now take place on Oct. 2. Patient admissions will end Sept. 22.
Before board members voted, residents, law enforcement and elected officials testified against suspending the unit this year, according to the report. Some expressed concerns over the extra travel time that would be involved to make it to similar facilities providing psychiatric care in Escondido, Calif., or San Diego. Speakers also argued there were resources and avenues available to address the regulatory, financial and staffing difficulties cited by the hospital when the original decision to suspend the unit was made.
Additionally, the hospital's chief of staff and others spoke in support of the suspension, according to Tri-City Medical.
In the end, based on efforts they've already made and an expected licensing survey this fall, board members said they did not see any concrete solutions to addressing those issues, the report states.
The board initially decided to suspend the mental health unit, as well as the hospital's 12-person crisis-stabilization unit, on June 26. The crisis stabilization unit was already suspended. The suspension of both units affects about 80 employees.
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