Mental Hospital May Lose Some Privileges
Citing poor supervision at a West Hills psychiatric hospital where two teenage patients were assaulted, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health is planning to strip the private facility of its ability to treat some patients, officials said Wednesday.
Under such a mandate, Pine Grove Hospital would lose its ability to detain and treat mentally ill patients admitted involuntarily, said David Meyer, the agency’s chief deputy director.
Pine Grove administrators will have 30 days to respond to the findings, officials said.
Law enforcement authorities have investigated five reported incidents of sexual molestation in the last three years involving patients and former patients.
Two former employees and a 17-year-old patient have since been convicted of sexually assaulting teenage girls they met at the hospital.
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