Here's a spin off folks, a person with a Mental Health problem goes to the E.R., no local unit to send them to, guess who has to transport them if they can't pay? I hope the county mounties have enough people and cars.

Speechfree, how bout we let the Whataburger employees treat the patients at 1 South?

Speechfree, your comment is ridiculous! How many Whataburger employees are on call? How many years of school & debt has the avaerage Whataburger employee racked up so they could be a Whataburger employee? You come across as a very jealous person, anyone who does well, you must attack.

It is really hard to feel sorry for people who make 160,000 to 200,000 a year. Yes they work a ton of hours and do so around the clock but so does the manager of a Whataburger for tons less money.

Superlift-
You did not read my post accurately. I said if patients go 100+ miles away for care, THEN families would have difficulty visiting. And what is this about missing 1 South if it closes? The only reason I would miss it is if I'd have to travel farther away for inpatient care. While no one WANTS to be on a psych ward, sometimes it is necessary. It's about Victoria losing a resource for those who need it.
Calling someone a crazy person is uncalled for...your whole post was mean-spirited for no reason.

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I've been a patient at One South several times. I cannot imagine having to travel at least 100 miles for inpatient care. It's depressing enough being in the hospital and then your family will rarely be able to visit. A city the size of Victoria would never close a unit dedicated to heart or stroke patients. Yet they will for mental health. Citizens should be able to find a way to work this out. Brown asks does it make a difference and yes it does to those with mental illness. The doctors now really are stretched thin. I agree with hiring a full time psychiatrist for the unit.

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The problem is money and arrogance. One South must remain open. We need to think of our citizens and THEIR families.

Another thing to remember: there are only 3 psychiatrists in Victoria, and also the same number of dermatologists. When they have this small of a number, they can make their own rules about who they see, what insurance they accept, if they will electronically file your insurance, etc. In other words, if they stick together on major decisions, they can't be dictated by a hospital or insurance company. Not this way in major metropolitan areas.

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So now we are up to six doctors who are not happy with Citizens?

familyman1122 is right--hire a psychiatrist for the psych unit. Citizens set the precedent by hiring the cardiologists.

And why doesn't Gulf Bend's psychiatrist provide inpatient services? Most of the folks admitted to the psych unit end up at Gulf Bend for follow up care.

Hire a doctor to be the head the inpatient psychiatric unit at Citizens. There, Problem solved! Citizens Hospital can afford it.

I believe I stated this was happening some time ago but the story is just now being brought to attention. What can be done? The docs for one can get off thier high horse and end thier god complex and the upper people at Gulf Bend can start to actually defend their employees, they brown nose too much with the docs here who do nothing but send people to state hospitals instead of actually trying to be a doctor.