A Cotati woman describes a fragmented system of mental health care that at times treated her with dignity while at others like a criminal or animal. A Santa Rosa mother decries a system of services that abandons all but the wealthy and very poor.

The largest psychiatric facility in Sonoma County is not a hospital. It’s the jail.

When a psychiatric patient shows up at the emergency room at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the staff quickly removes anything dangerous before placing them in a treatment room.