Lawmakers probe decline in public inebriate beds as hospitals warn of ED strain

Summary

At a House Human Services hearing on S.36, Department of Health officials told lawmakers that public inebriate program bed numbers and screenings have fallen sharply in recent years while hospitals said PIP closures are pushing intoxicated, non-medical patients into emergency departments and correctional custody.

Lawmakers in the House Human Services Committee heard at-length testimony on S.36 and a potential repeal of language in Section 4 concerning the use of correctional facilities for people detained for incapacitating intoxication. Kelly Dougherty, deputy commissioner at the Vermont Department of Health, described public inebriate programs (PIPs) as statutory, voluntary programs that screen people detained by law enforcement for public intoxication and determine whether they can be safely monitored in a community PIP, require medical attention, or need protective custody with the Department of Corrections.

"So what the PIPs do is they provide an initial screening to determine whether somebody can be managed in a public inebriate program or whether they need to have medical attention or if they need to be placed in the custody of the Department of Corrections," Dougherty said. She added that PIP services are voluntary: people can refuse to be served.

Dougherty and other witnesses described a decade-long decline in PIP screening and bed utilization.…

Lawmakers probe decline in public inebriate beds as hospitals warn of ED strain

Summary

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