Report: Iowa has critical psychiatric bed shortage

From PR Newswire: "A new report released today by the Treatment Advocacy Center reveals that for every 20 public psychiatric beds available in the US in 1955, only 1 such bed existed in 2005."

Since the 1960s there has been a mass exodus of patients from public psychiatric hospitals. Data are available on the number of patients in such hospitals in 1955 and in 2004–2005. The data show that:

• In 2005 there were 17 public psychiatric beds available per 100,000 population compared to 340 per 100,000 in 1955. Thus, 95 percent of the beds available in 1955 were no longer available in 2005.
• [naviga:font color="#ff0000"]The states with the fewest beds were[/naviga:font] Nevada (5.1 per 100,000), Arizona (5.9), Arkansas (6.7), [naviga:font color="#ff0000"]Iowa (8.1)[/naviga:font], Vermont (8.9), and Michigan (9.9). The states with the most beds were

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2. Critical bed storage (less than 12 beds per 100,000 population)

Since the 1960s there has been a mass exodus of patients from public psychiatric hospitals. Data are available on the number of patients in such hospitals in 1955 and in 2004–2005. The data show that:

• In 2005 there were 17 public psychiatric beds available per 100,000 population compared to 340 per 100,000 in 1955. Thus, 95 percent of the beds available in 1955 were no longer available in 2005.
• [naviga:font color="#ff0000"]The states with the fewest beds were[/naviga:font] Nevada (5.1 per 100,000), Arizona (5.9), Arkansas (6.7), [naviga:font color="#ff0000"]Iowa (8.1)[/naviga:font], Vermont (8.9), and Michigan (9.9). The states with the most beds were South Dakota (40.3) and Mississippi (49.7).  ...

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2. Critical bed storage (less than 12 beds per 100,000 population)