States Confront Lack of Beds, Funding for Mentally Ill Patients
The following briefly summarizes mental health news from around the country.
- Oregon: A shortage of psychiatric beds in Lane County has resulted in many severely mentally ill patients being "warehoused" in county jails or short term treatment programs designed for emergencies, the Eugene Register-Guard reports. While the state maintains 400 "forensic beds" for mentally ill patients charged with or convicted of crimes, all of the beds are full, as are 307 "civil" beds slated for patients who are not charged with crimes and 200 private facility beds (Bishop, Eugene Register-Guard, 9/23).
- Maryland: A committee of Montgomery County Council officials voted on Sept. 24 to allocate $870,000 to the county's mental health clinics to avoid service cutbacks, the Washington Post reports. While clinics and hospitals across the state have "faced closure" over the past year -- citing low reimbursements, late payments and increasing administrative costs as causes -- the additional funding is likely to prompt debate about whether the county should provide funding that is "supposed" to be covered by the state. However, without county funding, the Post reports that the clinics say they will deny care for uninsured and underinsured residents, cut payroll costs by hiring "less qualified clinical staff" and shift one-on-one treatment sessions to group therapy (Becker, Washington Post, 9/25).
- Georgia: The Southeast Coastal Regional Board, which manages the behavioral health system in coastal Georgia, will hold four public forums this week to give residents an opportunity to express their concerns about mental heath, mental retardation and substance abuse services, the Savannah Morning News reports. About 400 people attended the forums last year, and as a result of their feedback, the board contracted with Behavioral Health Link to provide an information system for patients to use while navigating the mental health system. Service providers will not attend the forum so families can "feel comfortable complaining," Barbara Meyers, the board's network manager said (Landers, Savannah Morning News, 9/24).
