Multnomah County, Ore., Mental Health System Faces Crisis with Center Set to Close

Officials in Multnomah County, Ore., will vote Aug. 9 on a "gap plan" to address the "imminent closure" of the Crisis Triage Center at Providence Portland Medical Center, a 24-hour "emergency" mental health facility, the Portland Oregonian reports. MCCP Healthcare Consulting Inc. consultant Dale Jarvis, who the county hired to help redesign the mental health system, said that the county's mental health system "relies too much" on expensive hospitalization -- with hospital care for mental health patients in Multnomah County accounting for 20% of mental health costs, higher than any other part of the Northwest. In addition, he said that the system has a "fragmented yet redundant" network of provider groups with "little accountability or incentive to curb costs," adding that "it's going broke." Jarvis also predicted that mental health care costs would jump from $9.9 million last year to $14.2 million -- or "possibly higher" -- this year. To address the problem, Jarvis has proposed spending $21.8 million for acute mental care costs, but the county only has an estimated $14.7 million earmarked for mental health services, leaving a $7.1 million shortfall. Jarvis and the county's "mental health redesign team" have offered a number of proposals for "making up that deficit," such as using "emergency reserve funds" and cutting administrative budgets for the county Behavioral Health Division by 5%. Several board members said that "it would be premature to give a formal go-ahead" to the recommendations, adding that the board may amend the proposal during the next few weeks. However, the county faces an "immediate crisis," with the Crisis Triage Center set to close at the end of July. The center's contract with the county ended June 30 and "negotiations to renew it broke down." After the center closes, officials worry that mental health patients will "flood" emergency rooms (Colburn, Portland Oregonian, 7/20). For further information on state health policy in Oregon, visit State Health Facts Online.