{"id":471121,"date":"2017-11-28T08:57:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=471121"},"modified":"2017-11-28T08:57:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:57:57","slug":"officials-explore-options-to-expand-psychiatric-hospital-to-southern-nm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/11\/officials-explore-options-to-expand-psychiatric-hospital-to-southern-nm\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials explore options to expand psychiatric hospital to southern NM"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_471135\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-471135\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/LasVegasHospital-771x430.jpg\" alt=\"New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute\" width=\"771\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/LasVegasHospital-771x430.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/LasVegasHospital-336x188.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/LasVegasHospital-768x429.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/LasVegasHospital-1170x653.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/LasVegasHospital.jpg 1464w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Diana Alba Soular \/ Las Cruces Sun-News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, first established in 1889, hosts the only state-run adult psychiatric unit in New Mexico.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>LAS VEGAS, N.M. \u2013 This town is home to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nmhealth.org\/about\/ofm\/ltcf\/nmbhi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only state-run psychiatric hospital<\/a> in New Mexico. And each week, two Do\u00f1a Ana County sheriff\u2019s deputies transport people who are in crisis on a 350-mile trip north for treatment here.<\/p>\n<p>Do\u00f1a Ana County taxpayers spend up to $30,300 each year for 52 to 60 of these trips, according to county estimates.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, a patient must be taken by ambulance, which adds about $4,000 to the county\u2019s costs if the person is uninsured, officials say. An involuntary hospitalization lasts, on average, 11 days, largely at taxpayer expense, while patients are treated to a point of stability before being sent on another 350-mile trip home.<\/p>\n<p>The hospital isn\u2019t at capacity; officials say it had an 83 percent occupancy rate last year. But mental health advocates in Do\u00f1a Ana County have argued the distance creates hardships for southern New Mexico mental health patients and their families.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p><em>This article is part of a multi-newsroom investigative series that examines southern New Mexico\u2019s struggling behavioral health system and explores solutions.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/series\/distressed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here to read more<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>A branch of the hospital is needed in the southern part of the state, some say, to make it easier for families there to visit patients and to ease the burden on law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>On a recent autumn day, the sprawling, 300-acre campus of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute stood against a backdrop of picturesque mountains and turquoise sky in Las Vegas. State Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, is familiar with the facility both as a lawmaker and from her family\u2019s own experience. A grandchild was hospitalized there involuntarily earlier this year for treatment for a mental illness.<\/p>\n<p>Papen was among those who said the distance can make it difficult for southern New Mexico families to visit their loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s expensive and it&#8217;s time-consuming, and you have to leave your job to do this,\u201d Papen said.<\/p>\n<p>Studies have produced mixed results when examining whether family visits shortened patients\u2019 psychiatric stays in hospitals. But generally, experts said one of the goals in treating mental illness is promoting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nami.org\/Find-Support\/NAMI-Programs\/NAMI-Family-to-Family\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">healthy social interaction<\/a>. Many facilities are making a push for more family-friendly spaces and policies. The Las Vegas facility welcomes family visits.<\/p>\n<p>Still, \u201chaving a facility in the southern part of the state somewhere would be a tremendous advantage for family members as well as people who are suffering from mental illness,\u201d Papen said.<\/p>\n<p>The state has faced severe budget woes in recent years. Cuts have been handed down <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/story\/news\/local\/2017\/05\/27\/nmsu-finances-crystallize-but-tuition-still-limbo\/349758001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to universities<\/a> and state agencies. It would likely take a coalition of local governments and the state to fund a hospital expansion into southern New Mexico, some officials say.<\/p>\n<p>There are divergent views about what should be done. At least one prominent official doesn\u2019t believe a new psychiatric hospital is the right approach.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_470678\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-470678\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tweed-771x525.jpg\" alt=\"Frances Tweed\" width=\"771\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tweed-771x525.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tweed-336x229.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tweed-768x523.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tweed-1170x796.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Tweed.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Diana Alba Soular \/ Las Cruces Sun-News<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frances Tweed, a registered nurse and the administrator of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute, shown working in her office on Oct. 16.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>The need, the cost<\/h3>\n<p>The psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas accepts all state residents, regardless of their ability to pay for services, if they show up at the facility and meet the admissions criteria \u2014 mainly that they pose a threat to themselves or other people because of their mental state.<\/p>\n<p>The larger institute that operates the hospital includes other units \u2013 one that treats people charged with crimes whose competency is in question, a long-term nursing home, a unit focused on rehabilitating teen sex offenders, and an outpatient mental health program that serves a three-county area around Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>The psychiatric hospital unit treats people who\u2019ve been ordered by a judge to be admitted for treatment. In the 3rd Judicial District that covers Do\u00f1a Ana County, state Judge Mary Rosner presides over closed-door hearings each Friday at Mesilla Valley Hospital and Memorial Medical Center, where a psychiatrist testifies about the need for hospitalization.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 72 residents from Do\u00f1a Ana County were treated at the adult psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas. That was nearly 10 percent of the hospital\u2019s caseload, said hospital Administrator Frances Tweed. Though a person could voluntarily show up there and ask for treatment, she said most patients from southern New Mexico were ordered into treatment by a judge.<\/p>\n<p>Do\u00f1a Ana County hired a consultant, New Heights Group, about two years ago to study a proposal for a southern New Mexico mental health hospital to serve a 12-county area. A 14-person task force that included Papen, Las Cruces City Councilor Jack Eakman, former Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Wayne Hancock, a representative from the National Alliance on Mental Illness and a representative from the hospital in Las Vegas met in November 2015 to discuss the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>The group recommended a two-step approach toward establishing a 30-bed behavioral health hospital in southern New Mexico, a summary report stated. The hospital would serve as a \u201c \u2018hub\u2019 for the further development of a comprehensive system of mental health care for the residents of southern New Mexico,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n<p>The estimated cost was $15.5 million for construction, and $6 million to 7 million each year for operations.<\/p>\n<p>An interim step could entail a renting out space in an existing facility, the report stated.<\/p>\n<h3>Options<\/h3>\n<p>Unlike some other officials, Do\u00f1a Ana County Health and Human Services Director Jamie Michael doesn\u2019t believe building a branch of the state hospital in southern New Mexico is the right approach. She instead favors the idea of renting out space in an existing facility. The county suffers from a health provider shortage, and Michael said a new hospital would \u201cfurther stress\u201d that situation.<\/p>\n<p>Several ideas have been floated for how a publicly funded behavioral health hospital could work in southern New Mexico. Among them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Beds could be rented in existing Do\u00f1a Ana County hospitals through a contract with the state behavioral health hospital. The expense could be paid for solely by the state, solely by local governments, or shared by both.<\/li>\n<li>Local governments could pay for a new building, and the state could pay to expand its Las Vegas operations into Las Cruces. Local governments could shunt money to the state for a portion of the operating costs.<\/li>\n<li>The city, county and other local governments could band together, as they currently do for the local 911 call center, to pay for building and running a hospital without state help.<\/li>\n<li>The city could opt to build a hospital and pay for its operations on its own, and plan to recover some costs by seeking reimbursements from other area governments whose residents are treated there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Las Cruces City Councilor Greg Smith said these are the types of considerations that must be ironed out. That\u2019s why a legislative study is needed.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of whether the state takes on the costs of the project, Smith said it will need state authorization to move forward.<\/p>\n<h3>Who pays?<\/h3>\n<p>OK, but who will pay for it? \u201cI would say ideally, the state would have the resources to take the whole thing on,\u201d said Smith, who\u2019s Papen\u2019s son-in-law. \u201cThis would be a satellite facility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eakman, a retired nonprofit hospital administrator, said he wants the Legislature to carry out its own hospital-expansion study next \u2013 not to duplicate what\u2019s already been done but to figure out how a new facility would tie into the state\u2019s network. He also said the state should shoulder much of the burden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don&#8217;t have the resources in southern New Mexico to do this on our own,\u201d Eakman said.<\/p>\n<p>But he\u2019s willing to consider local help. He said officials could gauge residents\u2019 interest in voting on a local tax increase to pay for behavioral health care, akin to one passed in Albuquerque. In 2014, Bernalillo County voters OK\u2019d imposing a 1\/8 of 1 percent gross receipts tax <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bernco.gov\/health-and-public-safety\/behavioral-health.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to fund behavioral health projects<\/a>. It results in a 12-cent charge on a $100 purchase of most goods and services, generating up to $20 million per year.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, Santa Fe County voters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/best-states\/new-mexico\/articles\/2017-09-20\/santa-fe-county-voters-turn-down-proposed-sales-tax-increase\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rejected a smaller tax increase<\/a> aimed at paying for public safety and behavioral health care. Separately, the Santa Fe County Commission imposed a similar tax hike <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/best-states\/new-mexico\/articles\/2017-06-28\/santa-fe-commissioners-vote-to-raise-gross-receipts-tax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">without going to voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The city of Las Cruces has a pot of money that theoretically could be tapped to help fund a psychiatric hospital in southern New Mexico. The city\u2019s share of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/story\/news\/local\/2017\/04\/29\/council-focus-street-finances-nonprofit-distributions\/101026732\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">so-called Telshor Fund<\/a> \u2013 proceeds paid to Do\u00f1a Ana County and the city in the mid-2000s for leasing Memorial Medical Center to a private company \u2013 currently totals about $40 million. It\u2019s grown over time because the city has invested a portion. And each year, the city council awards a portion to community groups, like a local food pantry \u2014 an amount officials recently bumped up to $400,000 annually.<\/p>\n<p>The county, on the other hand, slashed its share of funds paying a huge legal settlement. Still, there is $8.5 million remaining. County officials plan to use this to pay for operating their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/story\/news\/local\/2017\/11\/01\/county-debates-plans-opening-crisis-triage-center\/823554001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">built-but-not-open Crisis Triage Center<\/a>, which would serve as an urgent care facility for certain residents with mental illness. That funding will dry up in a few years.<\/p>\n<p>The role of the crisis center would be different from a psychiatric hospital. County officials envision the former as a landing place for people just released from jail to connect to resources like housing and outpatient mental health care, and as a place to keep people who are facing minor, mental-health-related charges from jail in the first place. The proposed hospital, meanwhile, would be tasked with providing intense inpatient psychiatric care.<\/p>\n<p>Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said he \u201cabsolutely\u201d backs the establishment of a southern New Mexico branch of the state psychiatric hospital. He said the city and other local governments could help pay back bonds used to build the facility. One possible funding source, Miyagishima said, is about $8 million the city and county are still owed from the MMC hospital lease.<\/p>\n<p>But while the mayor said the city may be willing to help build a hospital, he believes the state should pay to operate it because it would serve residents from other counties as well. Eakman agreed, saying it\u2019s possible \u201csome\u201d money in the Telshor Fund could help with construction.<\/p>\n<p>Miyagishima doesn\u2019t support spending more from the city\u2019s Telshor Fund than is already being doled out to community groups. To maintain the current annual level of spending, the fund will have to grow to keep pace with inflation, he said. He also doesn\u2019t support a city tax hike for behavioral health, noting Do\u00f1a Ana County already has a tax in place dedicated to indigent health care.<\/p>\n<p>Michael said the county\u2019s indigent health care tax dollars are already fully used each year and even supplemented by an extra $1 million from other county revenues. Some goes to the state to supplement Medicaid payments. Other funds pay for ambulance services and medical care for low-income residents and cremation services for people whose bodies are unclaimed by family.<\/p>\n<p>Papen said the idea of local and state government sharing the costs would be more palatable to the Legislature than the state shouldering the full burden. As it is, the Las Vegas hospital\u2019s campus needs improvements, she said.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces and member of the Legislature\u2019s behavioral health subcommittee, said she would \u201clove to see\u201d a state hospital in the southern part of the state, but she doesn\u2019t see it happening without \u201csome tax reform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil we get some new revenue, it\u2019s going to be hard to expand services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h3>Next steps<\/h3>\n<p>City officials recently added the hospital study to its list of priorities for the upcoming session of the N.M. Legislature in January, specifying it should be a state project.<\/p>\n<p>Smith said in a \u201cworst-case scenario,\u201d the city could take the project on by itself, funding it through a combination of the Telshor Fund, a bond and possible grant revenues. That would be difficult, he said, but possible.<\/p>\n<p>Tweed, who\u2019s been administrator of the hospital in Las Vegas for about a year, said she hasn\u2019t researched the proposal to build a branch in southern New Mexico. If there\u2019s more money, she said she would rather see it used for expanding outpatient services. That would help keep patients in their communities and help them get medication and counseling they need, she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nami.org\/Extranet\/NAMI-Board-of-Directors\/Voting-Elections\/2017-NAMI-Elections\/Meet-the-2017-Candidates\/Micah-Pearson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Las Crucen Micah Pearson<\/a>, a member of the local and national boards of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nami.org\/Find-Support\/NAMI-Programs\/NAMI-Family-to-Family\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a>, agreed that improving outpatient and other services for clients does reduce the need for hospitalization. But even with improvements in those services locally, he said a portion of the population will still need the more intense care hospitalization provides.<\/p>\n<p>Smith said the strain on families caused by the lack of a nearby public hospital has a societal cost.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know this is a need in the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:dalba@lcsun-news.com\"><em>dalba@lcsun-news.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/albasoular\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@AlbaSoular<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Las Vegas is currently home to New Mexico&#8217;s only state-run psychiatric hospital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":471135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[115,117,145,3340,107],"class_list":["post-471121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-dona-ana-county","tag-health-care","tag-las-cruces","tag-las-vegas","tag-roundhouse","series-distressed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}