Orange County, Calif., Hospital May Close Mental Health Unit.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News,  February, 2000  by Crabtree, Penni

Tags: Hospital, Orange PCS, St. Joseph

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Jan. 29--St. Joseph Hospital will consider closing its doors to emergency psychiatric patients, a move that has angered some advocates for the mentally ill.

The Orange County Psychiatric Society issued a written appeal Friday to the Orange hospital, urging it not to "adversely" affect patient care by closing its 36-bed, emergency-psychiatric unit.

A St. Joseph spokesman confirmed that the hospital might close the unit to make room for more medical-surgical beds.

"No decisions have been made," said Alain Jourdier, a spokesman for the St. Joseph Health ...

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