A former patient alleges in a new lawsuit that kept him for more than a week so that the facility could keep getting paid even though he no longer needed inpatient care.
Jonathan Benitz, a Johnstown resident who is nonbinary but uses male pronouns, said in the lawsuit that he sought help for thoughts of suicide after experiencing repeated harassment because of his and his partner’s gender identities.
The outpatient center where he sought help suggested he seek inpatient care to get off the waiting list for a therapist faster, and providers at in Loveland placed him under a 72-hour involuntary hold after he went to the emergency room, according to the lawsuit filed last month in Larimer County District Court.
Benitz alleged that Johnstown Heights falsely claimed he wanted to hurt himself and others so that a court would keep him beyond the 72-hour deadline. He ultimately spent nine days in the facility.
“It is our contention that he should have been allowed to leave at or before the expiration of his 72-hour hold when he no longer met the criteria for being involuntarily held,” attorney Jordana Gingrass said.
The lawsuit alleged that Tennessee-based , which owns Johnstown Heights, copied a “model” of holding patients previously used by , after hiring seven executives from the behavioral health chain.
Last year, a found dozens of patients said they were confined at Acadia facilities despite posing no danger to themselves or others, and 50 former employees said the chain sometimes held patients so it could keep collecting payment from their insurance.
Johnstown Heights and Summit Behavioral Healthcare didn’t respond to questions about the lawsuit.
Two nurses who previously worked at Johnstown Heights that they believed the facility was keeping patients who didn’t need to be there.
Benitz said he never spoke with the psychiatrist responsible for his care, who works in Florida, and received little therapy over the course of nine days. He also alleged that Johnstown Heights failed to provide medication for his respiratory condition, ordered him to take psychiatric medications without explaining side effects and interactions, kept him from calling his mother or partner, and denied him access to private bathroom facilities that he needed as a nonbinary person.
