Region still struggling to care for mentally ill after closure of psych center
In August 2012, the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center’s inpatient ward closed. At that time, many local officials and advocates for the mentally ill raised concerns that there wouldn’t be enough services for people in need. But state officials said local inpatient needs would be met by new beds at Hutchings Psychiatric Facility in Syracuse, and by beefed-up outpatient services here.
Fast forward to 2015, and the closing’s impact to law enforcement and hospitals is hitting hard, and there are no immediate solutions.
Local mental health providers have found there can be delays in getting individuals into inpatient beds, and though the state has provided new funds for outpatient services, the need far outweighs what providers are able to cover. Additionally, the hoped-for state center for excellence in children’s mental health that was slated to go to Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center’s child and youth facility, formerly in the Pinefield Building, has been put on hold indefinitely.
In February 2012, the state announced it would close the inpatient beds at Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center as part of its push to reduce its $3.5 billion mental health budget by 5 percent. About 600 inpatient beds statewide were set for closure. At the time, there were 71 inpatients at Mohawk Valley Psychiatric.
Since 2013, the state has invested $59 million into community-based services statewide to offset the change.
“With this funding, we are increasing the availability and accessibility of mental health care throughout the state, with a goal of reaching people earlier and getting them the help they need before they require hospitalization,” state Office of Mental Health spokesman Ben Rosen said.
Homeless shelters and jails are now on the front lines of mental health treatment. In the worst cases, the mentally ill make headlines with violent crimes, such as the triple homicide allegedly committed in Utica by Paul Bumbolo in January.
More typical of those with mental illness is Nancy Edwards of Rome. The 67-year-old former nurse had a history of mental illness but was pushed over the edge when she lost her job more than a decade ago.
She lost her home and her finances were “devastated.”
“It was one big snafu after the next,” said Edwards, who now is getting the help through one of the outpatient services getting the additional state funding.
Still, some local officials said they believe the reductions in state funding need to be reversed.
“Mental health is probably one of the most important issues that have been ignored and neglected,” said state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome. “The way the state decided to reorganize, I am not sure it is as smooth or efficient as it could be.”
Griffo said he believes some people need longer inpatient care than currently is available and there need to be more beds available.
“I am not talking about old-style institutional care,” he said. “I am talking about some of the concerns of the 21st century in dealing with mental illness. You are also going to need bricks and mortar.”
Hospitals under pressure
The Mohawk Valley Health System is seeing the impact firsthand of the psych center’s closure, at Faxton-St. Luke’s and St. Elizabeth Medical Center campuses.
“We are definitely experiencing an increase in the census at both sites,” said Scott Buddle, program director for inpatient psychiatric services at St. Elizabeth.
Some of the patients are coming to the Mohawk Valley system from other hospitals where there isn’t room for them, he said.
He also said patients admitted to the hospitals because of mental health crises have to wait longer for beds at Hutchings than they did for beds at Mohawk Valley Psychiatric.
Part of the problem is that Hutchings is fielding more evaluations for people who are being assessed as part of a criminal proceeding, he said.
“If Faxton or St. E’s has a patient on the waiting list, they would be bumped to take these orders,” he said. “It did happen before, but Hutchings has led us to believe that there are more of these.”
Oneida County Undersheriff Rob Swenszkowski said the county jail is fielding more and more mentally ill people.
“There needs to be a better plan in place for the numbers that we are seeing,” he said. “We need to look at more services locally.”
Covering the need
County mental health officials said they continue to work to adjust to the closure.
“We are never happy to lose a resource in the community,” said Deb Whiteford, the county’s director of developmental disability services and former interim commissioner of mental health. “However, Oneida County has to evolve and adjust to the changes. We try our best to ensure that the community gets the services they need.”
In the wake of the inpatient bed closures, the state has started giving Oneida County $606,000 a year to boost outpatient services. One such service, the Mobile Crisis Assessment Team, known as the MCAT, assists people who are at a crisis point with their mental health issues.
Mary Pat Potter has been working as a peer advocate for the MCAT for three years. She said the team is working hard to make sure that people who need services are connected with them as soon as possible.
She said they can handle the calls they get, but that there could be people in the community who are unaware of their service. Also, she said, she believes there still is a need for services that would catch people before they end up in crisis.
“I don’t think there are enough services out there,” she said. “Sometimes, there are people who are not about to end their lives, but know they are not doing well, and have to wait a long time for an appointment.”
For Nancy Edwards, MCAT has been a lifeline.
“If you get stressed out or you get depressed, you get a live person to talk to instead of a recording,” she said. “God bless them.”
Follow @OD_Cooper on Twitter or call her at 792-5006.
After the inpatient beds closed at the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center, the state started an annual allocation of about $606,000 to Oneida County to increase outpatient services. The money is being used for:
> $339,000 for expanding the county’s Mobile Crisis Assessment Team for people in crisis.
> $196,000 for to help mentally ill people transition from the county jail back into the community after incarceration, and certain legal services.
> $61,000 for transportation for family members of patients undergoing treatment at Hutchings in Syracuse.
> $10,000 for enhancing single point of access services to link mentally ill people to the services available to them in the community.
NEED HELP?
To reach the Mobile Crisis Assessment Team, call 732-6228.