Connecticut Mental Health Patients Find Services ‘Scarce’ As Hospitals, Clinics Scale Back

Outpatient psychiatric care in Connecticut has "always been scarce," but many residents with mental illnesses have encountered even more difficulty seeking treatment as many hospitals and clinics are scaling back mental health services, the Hartford Courant reports. The problem is related to outpatient mental health clinics, many of which have long waiting lists for services. Many clinics have refused to treat patients who are covered by Medicaid or Medicare, which do not pay enough to cover a therapist's salary, benefits, licensing and overhead costs. When mental health patients cannot wait for a clinic appointment or are refused treatment at clinics, many seek care in hospital emergency rooms. In recent months, the state's 31 hospitals have experienced a 20% to 40% increase in emergency room visits for psychiatric care, and some hospitals now have six- to eight-week waiting lists for people seeking non-emergency psychiatric services. Some facilities have lost money treating mental health patients and "have quietly wound down mental health services," John Tobin, CEO of Waterbury Hospital, said. Hospitals must have state permission before eliminating psychiatric services altogether but do not need formal permission to scale back services. Two years ago, the state Office of Health Care Access tried to alleviate the mental health services shortage by asking for a voluntary moratorium on mental health services reductions at hospitals. The moratorium ended in January 2001, and Raymond Gorman, who as commissioner of the state Office of Health Care Access has the authority to grant or deny hospitals' requests to cut or expand services, said "he has no plans to call for another moratorium." Laurence Tanner, president and CEO of New Britain General Hospital, said, "We have not shut down yet, but without more money from the state we will continue to reduce, rather than expand." Whether the system will receive any more funds from the state is uncertain. Last week, as part of an effort to balance the state's budget, Gov. John Rowland (R) proposed reducing by $9 million a $26 million allocation he proposed in 2001 to improve psychiatric care throughout the state (Waldman, Hartford Courant, 2/11).