LOS ANGELES, CA — The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a pilot program to train emergency room physicians at five private hospitals to initiate involuntary psychiatric holds, a move intended to free county mental health crisis teams to respond more quickly to emergencies in the community.
The program, introduced by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, follows the enactment of a 2025 state law allowing emergency room physicians at private hospitals to become certified to initiate 5150 holds for patients who may pose a danger to themselves or others.
County officials said psychiatric mobile response teams currently spend about 1,100 hours each month responding to private hospitals to conduct 5150 evaluations because many facilities do not have physicians authorized to initiate the holds.
"Every hour our crisis teams spend inside an emergency room is an hour they aren't out in the community responding to someone who is having a mental health emergency in their home or on the street," Hahn's office said in a statement. "We have built up a strong alternative crisis response system, and now we need to make sure we are using those resources as effectively as possible."
The pilot program will train physicians at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, UCI Health in Lakewood, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance and UCLA West Valley Medical Center.
County officials said the goal is to allow crisis response teams to spend more time responding to mental health emergencies in homes and public places rather than in hospital emergency departments.
The Department of Mental Health was directed to report back to the Board of Supervisors within 120 days on the pilot program's implementation, including hospital participation, training protocols and any barriers. The department also will develop a plan to expand the training program to eligible private hospitals countywide by the end of 2027.
According to the county, Los Angeles County now operates 71 mobile mental health crisis response teams around the clock.
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