University Of Illinois Medical Center At Chicago-University Of Illinois At Chicago

Mentally ill flood ER as states cut services

Dr. William Sullivan, an emergency department physician at the University of Illinois at Chicago hospital, is seen through a re-enforced window of a psychiatric evaluation room in Chicago December 21, 2011.

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - On a recent shift at a Chicago emergency department, Dr. William Sullivan treated a newly homeless patient who was threatening to kill himself. "He had been homeless for about two weeks. He hadn't showered or eaten a lot. He asked if we had a meal tray," said Sullivan, a physician at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago and a past president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians. Sullivan said the man kept repeating that he wanted to kill himself. "It seemed almost as if he was interested in being admitted. ... read more..

source:http://news.yahoo.com/mentally-ill-flood-er-states-cut-services-131133880.html