USVI Spends $7 Million Annually on 44 Sociopathy Patients; Calls for Repatriation Intensify

Each patient costs up to $350,000 yearly; local treatment could slash expenses

The V.I. government could be saving millions of dollars by repatriating citizens who are currently housed in facilities on the U.S. mainland, said Dr. Laurie McCormick, speaking during a Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services hearing on Wednesday.‌

Dr. McCormick, a psychiatrist invited to testify on the state of behavioral healthcare in the territory, complained that of the funds budgeted for mental health care within the USVI, “virtually all of that money goes for paying for 44 severely mentally ill with sociopathy, who are being detained in locked units stateside.” These individuals were found not guilty of criminal offenses by reason of insanity, but remain committed for public safety.‌