CHA News

State Health Leaders Call for Suicide Screening

For behavioral health directors, emergency department staff

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Citing concern about COVID-19’s immediate and long-term impact on individuals’ mental health, the directors of the Department of Health Care Services and California Department of Public Health, and the state Surgeon General, have called on all California medical and behavioral health providers to ask four suicide screening questions of the people they care for.

The letter also provides instructions and resources for providers who identify an individual at risk. Additionally, it encourages health care providers to assess their own mental health — pointing them to a guide developed by the Surgeon General’s office, which explains things they can do that will help support mental and physical health.