County looks at partnership with Adventist Health
Mendocino County continues to look at a potential partnership with Adventist Health to use its facilities for mental health locations throughout the county through Measure B funds.
President Jason Wells of Adventist Health submitted a letter to the Supervisors last month proposing that the county designate funds for remodeling part of the Mendocino Coast District Hospital for use as an inpatient psychiatric 10-bed unit. The proposal also asked the Supervisors and the Measure B Committee to use the empty six-bed former intensive care unit in Ukiah for additional in-county psychiatric beds to solve money and spacing problems.
The Supervisors on Tuesday at their board meeting directed county staff to conduct research analysis of the proposed plan, an assessment of Adventist Health as a partner, and a legal evaluation from county counsel if working with Adventist Health is legal through Measure B. The Measure B Committee is considering the partnership with Adventist Health and gave the Supervisors a list of questions they wanted the county to research about Adventist Health. Measure B Administrative Project Manager Isabel Gonzalez submitted the legal and project assessment questions to the Board before the meeting.
The six questions are:
1. Can the county use or give Measure B Mental Health Treatment Act funds to the Adventist system to run or operate an Adventist mental health facility?
2. If so, what kind of covenant restrictions can be imposed to ensure that it remains a mental health facility for X amount of years into the future?
3. What are the necessary controls to oversee the development and ongoing maintenance and management of the facility(ies)?
4. The hospital facility in Fort Bragg is leased. What are the additional implications, if any, to using public funds to develop a private facility that is leased?
5. What if Adventist Health goes out of business or sells to another hospital? Is there a way to protect the County’s Investment?
6. Is this legally consistent with the Measure B ordinance?
The county has not yet come up with answers to these questions, and county staff will now research the six questions and the different possibilities. The Board asked that county staff answer question six about the legal component of the Adventist Health proposal first, and if legally possible, to then review the other questions for feasibility.
The Mendocino County Executive Office is also currently performing an operational feasibility study of the proposed Measure B funded facilities of a psychiatric health facility, crisis stabilization unit, and crisis residential structure.
The feasibility study would be a financial and business plan studying what the county can afford to fund and build. Nacht & Lewis, a design firm from Sacramento, has also been hired for the predesign, design, and construction of mental health buildings. The county has not selected specific sites for its mental health facilities. The Board has said they are keeping their options open in case sites don’t work out for financial reasons.