Mental Patient Dies in Harbor-UCLA’s Psychiatric ER

A psychiatric patient died at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center over the weekend after he tried to hang himself in a shower stall, a coroner’s spokesman said.

The 22-year-old man, who did not have a home address and whose name was being withheld, was taken to the county-run hospital near Torrance on Thursday because he was presenting a danger to himself or others, said David Campbell of the coroner’s department.

“He was found by hospital staff hanging from a shower fixture,” Campbell said. Doctors placed the man on life support. He was pronounced dead on Saturday, Campbell said.

The county health department declined to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns.

“What’s important to keep in mind is that psych ERs ... take patients there who are being committed involuntarily,” said health department spokesman John Wallace. Many such patients “are severely impacted by mental illness and are some of the most difficult patients to treat,” he said.

A male nurse at Harbor-UCLA who was familiar with the case said nurses working in the psychiatric emergency room found the man around midday Thursday, after he had been left alone for about 20 minutes.

At the time, two nurses were caring for 12 patients in the psychiatric emergency room, in violation of the state-mandated maximum of four patients per nurse in that ward.

“This is a clear indication of not having a safe ratio,” the nurse said.

In the last few months, more than 160 county nurses, including several who work in Harbor-UCLA’s psychiatric emergency room, have refused to take on more patients than state law allows. They have said that doing so would endanger patients.