Mental triage center praised, but funds in doubt

Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 | 9:09 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn says that a triage center that keeps mentally ill people out of hospital emergency rooms in Las Vegas is "an excellent program" but he is unwilling to say whether he will include state money for it in his 2005 budget.

"They have made phenomenal progress -- the counties and the cities and volunteers like (former sheriff) Jerry Keller," Guinn said.

Asked if he would put state money into the program in the next budget, Guinn said: "It's too far away to say. It depends on the economy."

Westcare, a nonprofit organization, operates a center to care for mentally ill people who are diverted from jail and crowded hospital emergency rooms. Local governments and hospitals have contributed and had counted on the state to kick in $1.3 million.

Only $500,000 of that has come through the Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. A bill to provide the rest failed in the 2003 Legislature, and the Interim Finance Committee has once rejected a request to provide it. The committee will consider it again Nov. 18.

Dick Steinberg, chief executive of Westcare, said he has already laid off 30 percent of his staff and may have to close the operation because of a lack of money.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said he's going to explore whether there is any money available from the Healthy Nevada Fund, which is financed from tobacco settlement money.

The fund committee meets Nov. 12 in Las Vegas.

Legislators generally praise the program but are faced with a lack of money. Assemblywomen Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, and Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, say the bill for the state aid never got approval in the Senate and never made it over to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee for consideration.

They are reluctant to approve any money for a program that has not been approved by the full membership of the Legislature.

Keller earlier called Guinn and asked him for help. Guinn, through the state Department of Human Resources, found $200,000. That is so-called "Maximus" money, or extra allocations from the federal government.

But the state has been notified it will have to pump an extra $500,000 into a human resources budget because it failed to provide the proper matching funds.

Hospitals in Southern Nevada have complained that mentally ill patients are taking many beds in emergency rooms, delaying the treatment of those who have been seriously injured or who are suffering from a serious physical illness.