LAS VEGAS - Photos snapped in the days before Oscar Mejia's death reveal no hint of the breakdown to come. The husband, father and businessman from Tampico, Mexico displayed a slimmed-down physique with his signature smile. His daughter Erendira Mejia-Guzman says her father engaged in a new commitment to improve his health for his family and for himself.
"That is the saddest part - that he didn't actually get to do everything he planned for," she said.
Erendira tries to reconcile the dad she knew with the delusional man she last saw in the emergency room at Sunrise Hospital. "It was kind of the show of the ER, because he was shouting," she said. "It wasn't like he could calm down. Everyone could notice there was something wrong."
State investigators say two hours after Mejia's arrival, doctors placed him on a legal psychiatric hold. Suicide precautions in the nursing notes required visual checks every fifteen minutes. Investigators found, however, hospital records failed to document any checks for nearly four hours, despite doctor's orders.
That was enough time for Mejia to suffocate himself with his hospital-issued socks.
Attorney David Sampson represents Mejia's family. "It's absolute neglect," he said. "You don't stabilize and make safe a condition where someone is suicidal and may kill themselves at any moment by putting them in a corner, and looking at them every 15 minutes, and then not even following through and doing that."
Mejia's death while awaiting mental health treatment is not an isolated incident, according to investigative reports obtained by the I-Team. A similar circumstance last May at MountainView Hospital resulted in the suicide of a 59-year-old patient. Records reveal he hanged himself with his belt minutes after learning his transport to a psychiatric facility was delayed until morning.
"Absolutely, it's a problem," said Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services Director Dr. Stuart Ghertner. "Two people have died. Other people could die. People without mental health problems could come in, and they could die as a result of this problem. All these things could happen if we don't do something now to fix it."
Included in the state mental health budget is a proposal for two medical transport vehicles to shuttle patients from the emergency room to the state mental hospital. Ghertner describes it as a short-term fix, not a solution.
"What this will do is it will shorten the wait time and decrease the number of people who are overcrowding ERs," he said.
That includes people like Oscar Mejia who, according to court records, spent 24 hours in an emergency room in a suicidal state without ever seeing a psychiatrist.
"I want to know why he wasn't deserving of treatment," said Mejia-Guzman. "What were they thinking? Why would they do that? I want justice for my dad."
Sunrise Hospital officials said in a statement, "We extend our deepest sympathy to the patient's family. Sunrise Hospital takes patient safety issues and regulatory compliance very seriously. The state investigated the matter and found that Sunrise Hospital is in compliance with the requirements regarding emergency care."
Officials with MountainView Hospital, meanwhile, also released a statement regarding the 59-year-old patient's suicide, saying, "We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the patient's family, as we are saddened by their loss. MountainView Hospital is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care for our patients.
In 2010, MountainView was presented the HealthInsight Award for demonstrating excellence in performance on publicly reported quality of care measures. This is just one of the many ways that MountainView is being recognized as a community leader in the advancement of patient care. Our commitment has always been and continues to be to provide a healing environment that is focused on patient safety, clinical excellence and customer service."
Most agree the solution is to create a one-stop-shop where mentally ill patients can receive medical and mental health screenings. That would remove the emergency rooms from the equation. With a $10 million price tag, however, such a facility is unlikely to receive funding anytime soon.
