One of us is a Republican legislator representing rural Gallatin County. The other is a Democratic legislator representing the city of Missoula. Despite our political differences, we are committed to taking action to end the crisis at the Montana State Psychiatric Hospital at Warm Springs. The State Hospital’s problems are not new. For more than a decade, federal investigators and disability rights advocates have sounded the alarm about persistent human rights violations against the Hospital’s residents. Avoidable falls, preventable deaths, untreated illnesses and broken bones, over-reliance on restraints both physical and chemical, chronic understaffing– this has long been the reality for the facility’s residents. As legislators tasked with oversight of Warm Springs, we frequently hear from families who are understandably terrified for the well-being of loved ones who end up there.
