Montana's state psychiatric hospital is now facing a lawsuit due to accusations claiming that the health institute's mismanagement caused the deaths of some patients.
The families of the victims were the ones who filed the legal action in Butte on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
They claimed that the Montana State Hospital wasn't properly accommodating mental health patients from low-income families.
Montana's State Psychiatric Hospital Faces Lawsuit
According to Fox News, the lawsuit accuses the Montana State Hospital of poorly handling patients.
The plaintiffs said that the psychiatric institute's facilities are unsafe, and the staff doesn't treat poor patients with mental health issues with dignity and respect.
"This case is about holding those in power responsible and accountable for the entirely preventable damages to these Plaintiffs, and to force change so these tragedies don't happen to others," said the victims' families.
Gov. Greg Gianforte, the director of the state hospital, the director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, the psychiatric hospital, and the Montana state were all included in the legal action.
The plaintiffs explained that the Montana State Hospital violated the state's law, which prohibits any form of neglect or abuse of patients who are admitted to a mental health facility.
This legislation also requires hospitals to ensure that the mental health patients' privacy and dignity are protected and that they have adequate medical treatment and supervision.
Aside from violating Montana state law, the lawsuit also claimed that the psychiatric hospital also abused its patients' constitutional rights.
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Montana State Hospital Has Issues Since 2022
The US News reported that the issues in Montana State Hospital have been concerning families and other health experts ever since 2022.
Because of this, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decided to pull out their funds from the psychiatric institute.
They said that they no longer want to pay the hospital because it was short on staff, has been putting mental health patients in jeopardy, and failed to correct its mismanagement.
However, the new lawsuit doesn't solely blame the Montana Hospital. The legal action explained that the health institute has been neglected by the Montana Legislature and governor for the past decades.
Because of the neglectful actions of Montana's officials, the psychiatric hospital itself has run into despair, leading to unsafe facilities, insufficient employees, and other issues.
