Sarah Beth Hensley, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Gov. Bob McDonnell says in his last few weeks in office, he will work to evaluate how the commonwealth addresses mental health emergencies after Democratic Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds blamed the local mental-health system for his son’s death last week.
During Tuesday’s “Ask The Governor” segment on WTOP, McDonnell, a Republican, said he will look at broader mental health system issues regarding bed space at facilities after the Deeds family says it tried to get son, Gus Deeds, into a psychiatric hospital, but he was turned away after six hours because no beds could be found.
Police say approximately one day later, in rural Bath County, Gus Deeds attacked his father with a knife, stabbing him in the face and chest, before taking his own life with a gun.
“Some action is needed and we will take some decisive action in the coming weeks,” McDonnell said of adding bed space. McDonnell faced Deeds in the 2009 Virginia governor’s race and won.
Another point of contention is the amount of time facilities have to determine whether a mental health patient needs immediate care. A Community Services Board has four hours to make the determination and that time needs to expanded, McDonnell said.
“Mental health is not like a heart attack or something else where you can see something empirical,” McDonnell said. “You have experts that have to make a determination.”
In rural Virginia counties, officials are spending more time bringing people in to be treated and that needs to be accounted for as well, he says. He says the four hours should be extended to six or eight hours in that case.
There are rooms available in for emergencies at hospitals, so mental health facilities should be the same, McDonnell said.
During the segment, McDonnell addressed the Virginia Attorney General race, which after a state certification, named Democrat Mark Herring the winner over Republican Mark Obenshain.
McDonnell said he would request a recount in the race if it were him. Obenshain has not requested a recount, but has less than 10 days to do so.
McDonnell added that it is premature to contest the election. To do that, it would have to be proven that the election was conducted in an unfair manner.
In 2005, a recount in the Attorney General race showed McDonnell defeating Deeds be just more than 300 votes.
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