Mentally ill people in B.C. often discharged too early because of lack of space, experts say

Mentally ill people in crisis are frequently discharged from Vancouver’s hospitals before their symptoms are adequately resolved because the limited bed space is needed for a stream of new patients, according to a long-time clinician who oversaw psychiatric care at Vancouver’s downtown hospital.

Bill MacEwan, the former head of psychiatry at St. Paul’s Hospital, said limited space means that health care workers in emergency rooms and psychiatric wards are constantly triaging people with complex mental-health problems.