$1.9 million OK’d for mental ward

Friday, July 30, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Board of Examiners today recommended an emergency allocation of $1.9 million to open a mental health facility to care for mentally ill patients that are filling up the emergency rooms of hospitals in Clark County.

Gov. Kenny Guinn, chairman of the board, noted that the backlog in the emergency rooms affects not only the mentally ill but other people who seek treatment at emergency rooms.

The state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services also is looking at a second alternative. It could hire 50 additional staff in the interim and then ask the 2005 Legislature for a supplement appropriation.

The request for $1.9 million will go to the Legislative Interim Finance Committee. Guinn said he would ask it to conduct an emergency meeting to expedite the funding.

"We can't wait," the governor said.

The division is planning to open a 28-bed ward on the campus of the Southern Nevada Mental Health Program.

Mike Willden, director of the state Department of Human Resources, told the board that the crisis peaked on July 9 when there were 105 mentally ill patients in the 11 emergency rooms in hospitals in Clark County. That's 20 percent of the licensed emergency room beds, he said.

Willden said other patients with physical ailments sometimes have to wait in ambulances until the space clears in the emergency room.

Mentally ill patients wait in emergency room beds until there is room for them in the state's 103-bed mental health facility. The average wait for a mentally ill patient in an emergency room has been 89.3 hours, officials said.

The state is going to build a 150-bed mental health hospital but that won't be ready until the spring of 2006, Willden said.

Willden said two things prompted this crisis -- the rise in population and the decision by three hospitals in Clark County to close 133 private psychiatric beds.

The state has contracted with the nonprofit WestCare to take some of the mentally ill patients temporarily. Willden said WestCare has stepped up to the plate but there is no more emergency funding to pay for that care. There are no more mental patients in WestCare and the state wants to open its facility next week.

Guinn said the Interim Finance Committee also faces the problem of paying for firefighting efforts this summer. It has only $3.3 million in its emergency funds, and the mental health crisis needs $1.9 million.

Guinn said the emergency room problem affects "hundreds of people" who are seeking care for physical ailments and are having to wait or be turned away to another hospital. He said Clark County would not be able to deal with a major emergency under these present conditions.

"This exposes the community and exposes the state to extreme liability," Guinn said.