REPORT: Cerritos Psychiatric Hospital Abused Patients, Violated Disability Laws for Years

Leather restraints used on patients at College Hospital in Cerritos. Courtesy Los Angeles County.

May 20, 2025

By Brian Hews

A damning new report released by Disability Rights California (DRC) has exposed years of systemic abuse at College Hospital in Cerritos, a private psychiatric facility located at 10802 College Place. The report, titled Let Me Go: Excessive Restraint of Patients at College Hospital, documents shocking failures in care, rampant misuse of physical and chemical restraints, and a complete breakdown in treatment protocols for some of California’s most vulnerable residents.

DRC, the state’s designated Protection and Advocacy system, is legally empowered to inspect and monitor facilities housing individuals with disabilities. The agency began investigating College Hospital in 2022 after noticing unusually high rates of restraint and seclusion in monthly data reports—numbers far exceeding statewide averages.

“A Culture of Restraint”

Key findings from the report reveal that College Hospital relies heavily on prolonged and unjustified physical restraints, including the use of face-down prone holds, which are known to cause asphyxiation and death. Between 2022 and 2024, the hospital reported hundreds of restraint incidents lasting over two hours—486 to be exact—compared to a statewide average of just four.

In many cases, staff skipped required de-escalation techniques and resorted immediately to physical or chemical control. Investigators noted that College Hospital personnel frequently used sedating drugs to control behavior instead of providing appropriate therapeutic intervention.

Patients with Dual Diagnoses are Trapped and Forgotten

College Hospital houses several locked units specifically for patients with “dual diagnoses”—those who have both intellectual or developmental disabilities and significant mental illness. Many of these patients enter during a mental health crisis and are meant to receive short-term stabilization before transitioning into community-based settings.

However, the DRC found that due to the hospital’s widespread failure to create individualized behavioral plans or conduct regular assessments, many of these patients remained institutionalized indefinitely. Records were filled with boilerplate language and lacked critical therapeutic strategies. In effect, patients were left without a roadmap to recovery.

“The hospital’s failure to provide treatment plans amounts to forced warehousing,” the report states.

An Outdated and Inhumane Facility

The hospital environment itself was described as restrictive, outdated, and “not trauma-informed.” DRC investigators who toured the facility, conducted interviews and reviewed thousands of pages of patient records and video footage found little evidence of any meaningful therapeutic programming. They also found no accommodations for race, disability, trauma history, or economic background in the hospital’s clinical approaches.

“The environment is not one where patients feel safe enough to engage and develop the necessary skills to succeed in the community,” the report noted.

Dead-End Discharges and No Path Forward

Perhaps most disturbing was the hospital’s complete failure to adequately plan for discharging patients. DRC found that many patients were unaware of what they needed to do in order to be released. In some cases, they were kept in the facility because there was no individualized transition plan in place—violating federal mandates and state best practices.

No Accountability—Yet

Despite the extensive evidence gathered and the serious nature of the violations, the California Department of Public Health has not fined or sanctioned the hospital. Instead, it has merely required College Hospital to submit corrective action plans, a response DRC has called insufficient.

Advocates are now urging state and federal officials to take stronger steps, including potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid funding until College Hospital comes into full compliance.

“Corrective plans won’t fix a system this broken,” said one advocate. “We need oversight, transparency, and accountability—not another slap on the wrist.”

College Hospital has disputed the findings, claiming that its patient population is “clinically complex” and that restraints are used only as a last resort. However, the hospital has not issued a formal response regarding DRC’s findings. The facility did not return requests for comment from Los Cerritos Community News.

The full report is available at disabilityrightsca.org.