Plan for mental patients approved

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A plan to end the "warehousing" of chronic drunks and mentally ill patients in the emergency rooms of Southern Nevada hospitals has been endorsed by the Legislative Committee on Health Care.

The plan, which would divert chronic drunks and the mentally ill from emergency rooms to a "crisis triage center" at WestCare, would cost $3.8 million, to be shared by the state and local governments.

That would pay for WestCare Nevada to set aside 60 beds for patients who don't have emergency medical needs, said Janelle Kraft, co-chairwoman of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition's Task Force on Emergency Room Overcrowding.

Local governments in Clark County will be asked to chip in $1.27 million, the state will be asked to provide $681,000 and WestCare will be asked to obtain federal and state grants to get the program running, Kraft said.

The health committee agreed to back the plan when it is presented to the 2003 Legislature, which convenes in February.

The proposal will be presented to the Regional Planning Coalition Nov. 21 for approval, then be presented to each local government for the money. Kraft said the program could be running by February with local money.

The committee was told that the presence of drunk and mentally ill patients in emergency rooms causes overcrowding, forcing those with medical emergencies to wait.

The number of these types of patients has escalated along with the cost, Kraft and Kathryn Landreth, chairwoman of the Southern Nevada Mental Health Coalition, said.

The state's mental health hospital doesn't have the beds to accept the patients. Gov. Kenny Guinn has already endorsed building a new psychiatric hospital that may take some of the stress off emergency rooms. But completion of that project is two years away, at best.

Landreth, chief of policy and planning for Metro Police, said sometimes 45 to 50 mentally ill or drunk patients take up beds in emergency rooms, calling it "a waste of available space."

In a three-week period, more than 622 adult patients who were drunk or mentally ill were kept more than 24 hours in emergency rooms.

It's the most expensive care available to them. An emergency room bed is $1,500 per visit, compared with a regular hospital bed of $824, and a bed at WestCare for $130.

Under the plan, those with mental problems would be stabilized and then referred to a therapy program. WestCare presently operates a detox center at its facility and once the drunk dries out, he or she could be enrolled in the treatment program there, Kraft said.

Landreth and Kraft also suggested that if the liquor tax is increased, as proposed by the governor's tax task force, some of that money should be set aside for treatment of people with alcohol problems.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, the chairman of the legislative committee, said the Legislature has been unwilling in many cases to earmark tax money for programs. But he said in this case the extra revenue should be diverted to relieve these growing costs.

Landreth also suggested there be an increased court fee of about $5 to finance mental health courts.