BernCo boosts mental health crisis services

Commission OKs $3M annually for treatment and stabilization

Bernalillo County’s Department of Behavioral Health Services is pursuing a four-phase plan officials hope will close gaps in crisis care and further develop triage for adults in need of immediate treatment and stabilization.

Bernalillo County commissioners on Tuesday approved an allocation of $3 million annually for the department to expand crisis services for individuals living with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

“The community has asked and we have responded in terms of creating a crisis (care) community and services here in Bernalillo County,” Katrina Holcomb, the county’s director of behavioral health services, told commissioners. “What that traditionally means is that we would be building a hospital with crisis components in it, but that’s years away. We’re looking at what we can do today — what we can do that moves the ball forward in getting us to where we need to be.”

Phase One

In a first phase of the proposal, University of New Mexico Hospital could take over administration of the Medical Observation and Treatment Unit at the county’s MATS detox services campus on Zuni Road and develop the Public Inebriate Intervention Program into an observation and triage service.

The county is in discussions with UNMH regarding its takeover of the observation and treatment unit, which if successful could take place as early as January.

Expansion of the public inebriate program could include medical direction by UNMH, an addition of at least 20 beds and medically licensed staff on each shift. That expansion would take advantage of space on the MATS campus vacated by Turquoise Lodge Hospital, which announced earlier this year it would move to the former Gibson Medical Center in Albuquerque.

Expansion of the two programs could be in place as soon as early next year, officials said.

16-bed crisis unit

In a second phase, officials would establish a 16-bed crisis stabilization unit on the MATS campus. The unit would initially receive patients who have been evaluated at an emergency service provider or who are discharging from an inpatient stay.

The goal of the unit would be to provide a safe place for patients to continue stabilization over time with the opportunity to receive case management and medical treatment as needed.

Plans call for the stabilization unit to begin services in summer of next year.

A third phase would involve development of an outpatient clinic on the MATS campus for clients pre- and post-crisis. The clinic, which would be operated by UNMH, could be in operation as soon as the fall of 2019.

Plans in this phase would call for the county to develop a non-residential “living room model” that would serve as a front door for clients who have a behavioral health need and want to engage with services through a peer-based approach.

A new hospital

A fourth phase would involve the UNM Health Science Center, in cooperation with the county, designing and building a new hospital to include an expanded psychiatric and emergency service center, also known as a crisis triage center.

That center could provide psychiatric urgent care, psychiatric emergency services, observation, peer supports, partial hospitalization and behavioral health clinics.

Those conversations, according to a joint statement to the Journal from UNMH and Bernalillo County, are ongoing.

“We continue to work as partners to address behavioral health needs in our community,” the statement reads. “We are in discussions regarding a crisis triage center that would increase care for people struggling with a behavioral health crisis. While we are excited about the possibilities of this partnership, we are still in talks regarding operational detail.”

The center would provide a place where crisis teams at the city and county’s fire and law enforcement departments could take those experiencing behavioral health crises. The location, which is yet to be determined, would have appropriate services and professionals to alleviate pressures on area emergency rooms.

Major funding

Construction of a crisis triage center is expected to require a large capital expenditure.

So, about $30 million collected from the county’s behavioral health gross receipts tax is in reserve for its construction, county officials said.

Commissioners on Tuesday also approved an annual allocation of $250,000 for a proposed Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, also known as LEAD.

It is designed to reduce the number of individuals with serious mental illness or substance abuse disorders who commit low level crimes and cycle through jail, often without being linked to health and social services they need.

The county has also received a $50,000 grant for the program.

The $250,000 budget would pay salaries and benefits of three full-time case managers or for a contract with a provider to hire and dedicate three full-time case managers to the program and a contract with the District Attorney’s Office for a part-time, dedicated LEAD attorney, if needed.

Commissioners also approved an allocation of $1 million annually toward suicide prevention programming for school-age at-risk populations.

Funding for these projects will come from the county’s one-eighth percent behavioral health gross receipts tax established in 2015.