This afternoon, Mary and I felt that it was time to chase down which facility had placed Patrick for treatment. Therefore, Mary and I called North Sound Crisis Line, who had assisted all three of us, including Patrick, throughout the commitment process. After receiving a call back from a counselor, we heard that they did not retain this information at all. Hard to believe, but apparently true. Fortunately, the expert acknowledged that before identifying a bed for the week, patients first required a medical clearance from a local hospital. In most cases, this took place at the ER of the Providence Medical Center in Everett. They were our next call.
After speaking to the operator of the medical center, we learned that Patrick had been admitted and subsequently discharged. However, this is not necessarily alarming as he would have naturally been discharged once he was medically cleared and we were quite confident that he had no illicit chemicals in his system. So, I spoke to the ER department. They had no record of where Patrick might have headed after their review. Next, I spoke to the charge nurse currently on duty in the ER. After reviewing her records on hand, she indicated that he had been transported to “North Sound.”
We first found a treatment facility with that name, but it is only for the chemically dependent. So, we are fairly confident that he did not go to there. With help from a relative, another facility with a similar name was found. I called them next and spoke to someone who simply said that “they could not help.” They didn’t even bother to obtain the necessary information. The answer was simply, “no.”
Where did he go? And, who might know? The professionals who attended his care that evening have no idea. Not the crisis expert, nor the ER, nor the hospital itself. We left a message for North Sound admissions.
Tomorrow we will make further calls, starting with the facility that elected to make no confirmation whatsoever. Good thing that there are at least three more days, where we can be sure he is receiving care from somewhere! How can a family recover from mental illness when the first act of the system is to separate them? Despite the court order indicating that visitors are welcome, they cannot be if the patient is intentionally hidden.
This situation seems almost unbelievable. How can they not make it easy and routine for a parent to find their child in these circumstances? I am so sorry that you are having to navigate this.
Harsh. So many folk get lost in these systems, and it is unconscionable that it is so hard to track. This system MUST change!