As you may or may not know Pierce County RSN, as well as mental health services in general, have long struggled with lack of adequate funding to care for this very complex population of citizens. One of the figures I’ve read is that one in five families is impacted by someone with mental health issues whether it is themselves, family, friends or neighbors. The truth is, we are all impacted in some way by mental illness and the effectiveness and availability of treatment and housing options.
According to the information I received in the meeting, Pierce County will close down most of its mental health services by October 1st this year.
Frankly I was stunned that the county failed to win its bid to provide those services and very concerned for these citizens and families who have relied on the services provided. Many of the workers in the RSN system are represented by unions (not WFSE) and the impact on approximately 130 of them is alarming as well.
The state apparently believes that it can recover about 3.5 million in Medicaid dollars by contracting with OptumHealth. OptumHealth is a for profit company that administers Pierce County mental health services for the state.
How does this impact the Washington Federation of State Employees? An e-mail was sent to Western State Hospital Employees yesterday from Doug Porter, Assistant Secretary of HRSA:
Dear Employees of Western State Hospital,The e-mail goes on to direct WSH staff questions to a question collector.
You will likely be hearing media reports about a change in the providers of crisis triage, and evaluation, and treatment services for Pierce County. Optum Health will be announcing tomorrow two new contractors who will be providing these services effective October 1st.
WSH will play a limited supporting role in the transition by leasing space in the PALS unit to Optum for the provision of these services on a temporary basis, while the contractors search for permanent sites.
I want to be clear that our role is limited to leasing existing space and utilities. Optum’s contractors will be responsible for staffing that space, making any needed tenant improvements at their expense, and maintaining that space.
It is my expectation that no WSH staff will be called upon to support these new contractors in any way. It is my further expectation that the new revenue generated by these lease payments offset staff reductions we would otherwise be obliged to take absent that revenue.
New revenue generated to support state mental health services is always welcome and sorely needed. The commitment to use the lease payments to offset staff reductions at the state hospital has value both for patients and staff at Western State Hospital, provided there is no shell game afoot.
DSHS and the state have serious obligations to its citizens and its workforce. State employees are dedicated to providing quality work to meet the demands. Commitments made to these employees, whether verbally or in e-mails, must be upheld.
During the meeting, a number of immediate questions came to mind and I shared a couple of them at the meeting.
- At Western State Hospital, all employees, no matter job duties, must pass a background check to be on the campus due to the vulnerable population. Will the same requirements be met when this for profit is temporarily housed on the campus?
- If campus security is currently provided by the hospital and cannot provide security at that facility which is on the campus – what is the protocol when security is required?
- Does the money currently provided for the Lakewood Police Department response to Western State Hospital get used to respond to the for profit vendor?
- Patients at the hospital go outdoors and one would think that the for profit contractor would provide outdoor breaks to their clientele as well. Again a security question naturally follows.
- Unexpected things happen. Some patients will be coming into Western State Hospital during the transition period. The number is unclear. Typically, as the bad weather moves in, there is a natural influx of patients. Will there be enough beds to serve these citizens without creating overcrowded and dangerous wards.
1 comment:
What happens to the community Mental Health system remains to be seen. I am leary of this new contractor. Let's hope that staff at Western are not overwhelmed in the winter months by patients who did not receive the care they required from the community system.
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