Report to Legislature shows rising mental illness

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Nearly two percent of Nevadans are currently suffering from serious mental illness, and more than 23 percent of the population will have some form of mental disorder during their lifetime, a state report says.

The biennial report of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services says that 56 percent of the more than 27,000 patients treated in fiscal year 2004 were females.

In Southern Nevada, 47 percent of the patients were between 21 and 44 years old. About one-third of those treated have never been married and more than one-third are unemployed, according to the report. About 75 percent of the patients were white, 12 percent back and 9 percent Hispanic, the report notes.

The report was submitted to the Nevada Legislature last week. It refers to a 1998 study called "Needs Assessment in the West" by a company called WSDSG that ranked Nevada as the state in the west with the highest rate of mental illness, estimating that up to 23.7 percent of Nevadans will have "some form of diagnosable mental disorder during their life."

The study also estimated 1.8 percent of Nevadans are currently "functionally impaired because of a serious mental illness."

Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the division, said Tuesday, those 1998 figures in the study are still accurate under the current conditions.

In talking about Nevada's problems, Brandenburg said the "single overarching challenge" facing his agency is the continued growth in the number of mentally ill who are crowding emergency rooms in hospitals in Southern Nevada.

He said the annual average in 2003 was 28 people waiting 45 hours in emergency rooms to be admitted to the mental hospital in Las Vegas. In 2004, there was an average 42 people in the emergency rooms waiting 61 hours. And so far this fiscal year, there is an average of 62 people waiting 93 hours for admission.

The 2003 allocated money to build a 150-bed mental hospital. The estimated cost of construction was $25.7 million but the low bid in December by Sletten Companies was $27.8 million.

The state Public Works Board will go before the Legislative Interim Finance Committee today to ask for permission to delay certain items in the project. In this way the construction can begin and the 2005 Legislature will be asked to allocate the extra cost money to complete the project.

In addition the mental health division will ask the 2005 session for another $7 million to build a third wing with another 40 beds to add to the 150-beds.

The Interim Finance Committee, in an attempt to relieve the hospital emergency rooms, allocated $3.5 million last year to add 28 additional beds at the old mental health facility in Clark County.

The problem has worsened, Brandenburg said because of "the loss of 133 private psychiatric beds during 2000-2004. Currently there are only 36 private psychiatric beds in the Las Vegas Valley" and it places more burden on the state system.

The biennial report says about 10.3 percent of Nevadans live below the poverty level. Yet, 92 percent of the patients that seek mental health treatment from the state earn below $16,000 a year.

Jonna Triggs, director of Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, has submitted a request to increase the budget for mental health in Clark County by 70 percent or $97 million a year. The current budget is an annual $57 million.

Included in the request is $18 million to create and equip an emergency room at the current mental health campus to handle patients.

The biennial report notes that mental health programs in Southern Nevada received a 35 percent budget increase and was approved to hire 72 new employees in 2003.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has not revealed how much he will recommend in increased funding for mental health services in Clark County. That will be disclosed Jan. 24 when he delivers his "State of the State" message.

Brandenburg, in the report, says the division has already started to address the shortage of mental health beds in Clark County. He said a mobile crisis team was created in September 2004 to serve Las Vegas, evaluating the mental health needs of patients in emergency rooms and referring them to the proper services.

The team entered into a partnership with Montevista hospital, referring patients with insurance to the hospital. And Montevista refers the uninsured to the state treatment programs.

A second team was added last year in Clark County to provide help for more than 200 people with the most serious mental illness living in the community. Its goal is to reduce the number of people who are returning to the mental health hospital for treatment again on their disorders.

The primary disorders of the patients coming to the state hospital are major depression, psychosis, bipolar or schizophrenic episodes, officials have reported.