Mental facility to make changes

Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005 | 7:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Serious problems such as deaths and an absence of therapy for patients at the state's mental hospital in Las Vegas will be eliminated when a new 150-bed psychiatric hospital is completed in May, state officials predicted Wednesday.

Dr. Jonna Triggs, administrator of the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, said the hospital will be able to hire 350 more workers to add to the mental health facility's current 431 employees.

Michael Hillerby, chief of staff for Gov. Kenny Guinn, said the new $36-million, 150-bed hospital would help alleviate some of the deficiencies outlined in a federal inspection in October.

Auditors from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported "serious deficiencies" at the current psychiatric hospital -- among them, patients watching television and sitting around rather than getting rehabilitation treatment.

And they blamed the "root cause" of two deaths on the hospital.

A major problem, the report concluded, was lack of staff at the hospital, which had many positions vacant.

The hospital Tuesday filed a plan of corrections, detailing how it will shift some staff to help with patient care and also try to hire some of the new staff early.

"It is very possible a request may have to come to the (Interim Finance Committee) for more money to the hospital," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno.

Leslie, vice chairwoman of a Legislative Interim Committee on health, said the panel would review the situation Dec. 13 with Carlos Brandenburg, the administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, which oversees the hospital.

"We have chronically underfunded mental health for decades," she said. As a result, the state is having difficulty attracting psychiatric nurses, Leslie added.

"The state work force is chronically underpaid," she said. "This is not acceptable."

In the report, auditors blamed an episode in which a patient hanged himself at the hospital on a Saturday in April on the failure of the weekend physician to consult with the patient. In the second fatal case, a woman died on the way from the state facility to a medical hospital. In that case, the auditors said, a nurse at the mental hospital failed to handle the case properly.

The Oct. 17-19 inspection of the hospital could jeopardize federal funds, estimated to be more than $9.6 million in the present two-year biennium, unless corrections are made.

Hillerby said Mike Willden, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, is "doing a very good job to address those issues" in the audit.

The governor, Hillerby added, is "keeping an eye" on the hospital, but he said he did not know whether any changes would be made.

Triggs said she has asked "for more resources in Southern Nevada" for years. The 2005 Legislature "did magnificently" by allocating the extra employees, she said. The budget went from $61.2 million last fiscal year to $73.2 million this year, and will rise to $97.2 million next fiscal year.

While the state could lose federal funds, Triggs said, the hospital's national accreditation is not in jeopardy.

After the two patients died in April, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations accepted a corrections report and indicated it would not withdraw accreditation. The corrective steps outlined include plans to hire, by Dec. 5, an additional psychiatrist to work during the weekend to treat patients considered a suicide risk.

Two full-time rehabilitation specialists also will be hired immediately to beef up patient therapy. And the hospital will keep 10 of the 131 beds vacant to improve the staff-patient ratio and to provide private space for treatment of individuals.

Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 687 5032 or at cy@lasvegassun.com