Upper St. Clair psychiatric hospital refuses to treat 16-year-old Franklin Regional stabbing suspect

Forensic units provide a more secure, structured environment for those who have been charged with violent crimes.

Mr. Thomassey and Mr. Peck said it was clear in conversations with Southwood on Friday that Alex was incarcerated on attempted homicide and assault charges. But on Monday, according to Mr. Thomassey, the hospital's admissions director, George Lee, told him the CEO "didn't think it was a good idea" to treat the teen there.

"This is disgusting. I don't know what to do. I'm at my wit's end," Mr. Thomassey said Tuesday.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Mr. Lee said the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prevents him from discussing prospective patients. He refused to talk generally about admissions practices.

Department of Public Welfare spokeswoman Kait Gillis said she didn't immediately know whether state hospitals, including Torrance, take adolescents.

But Mr. Kuppelweiser, the former Mayview CEO, said, "Precedent has been set. Yes, we did admit and treat 16- and 17-year-olds in our forensic unit" at Mayview from time to time.

"Little by little, the state phased those out and wanted private facilities to take that over," he said, adding that many Pittsburgh-area youths requiring hospitalization went to Southwood.

With the crimes he is charged with, Alex "leaped over" many providers' program limits, said Richard Sharp, director of child/?adolescent behavioral health for Mercy Behavioral Health, part of the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System.

Mercy Behavioral operates a variety of residential and outpatient programs for children and families, including some young people who have been ordered into treatment by a judge. But it does not care for people like Alex.

Alex is accused of bringing two 8-inch kitchen knives to the Murrysville school and stabbing or slashing 20 students and a security guard the morning of April 9. He is charged as an adult, but Mr. Thomassey has said he will try to move the case to juvenile court, meaning the teen could be confined and under the court's jurisdiction only until he is 21.

Molly Born: [email protected] or 412-263-1944. Joe Smydo: [email protected] or 412-263-1548.

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