Mental health commission anxious for Guinn budget

David Kihara

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 8:53 a.m.

The Commission on Mental Health and Developmental Services is anxiously awaiting Gov. Kenny Guinn's Monday unveiling of his budget.

Members of the commission are hoping that it will include more money for a variety of mental health-related services, from hiring more suicide prevention specialists to expanding services for autistic children and the elderly.

The commission, made up of representatives of several medical professions in Nevada, also wants the state to develop more programs for rural Nevadans who don't have access to psychiatric help and to increase the services for individuals suffering from drug and gambling addictions.

"Suicide is a major public health problem in our state and we can't go another year without these services," Commissioner Rena Nora said on Tuesday.

The commission is currently seeking funding -- either through grants or through the legislature -- to help hire two suicide specialists. One, a regional suicide-prevention coordinator, would be based in Clark County while the second, a statewide suicide-prevention coordinator, would be based elsewhere.

The state recorded a total of 292 suicides of residents and visitors to Clark County in 2003, according to the Nevada Bureau of Health Planning and Statistics.

And while there has been a longstanding need for more mental health services for Nevadans, the commission on Tuesday stated that there is a more recent urgency regarding Nevada's aging population.

"The 18-40 population is the most served, but there is a growing need for the (other) ages, especially with outreach programs," Commissioner Joan McCraw said. Another emerging problem is how to adequately serve the state's autistic population.

"We've talked about autism, but never really looked at it in depth," Eric Albers, chairman of the commission, said from Sparks during Tuesday's teleconferenced meeting.

Commissioners raised the issue of whether the state should begin screening children for autism earlier. Currently, children are screened for autism at 24 months, but one commissioner recommended that a screening at 18 months would be better.

"The earlier the intervention, the better the outcome," said commissioner Johanna Fickle, who also serves as an associate professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

The commissioners also discussed expanding a telemedicine and telepsychiatry program to all rural areas in Nevada. Telemedicine allows patients to access medical advice or therapy directly from a medical practitioner by two-way televised communications, so an individual seeking help in Esmeralda County could get a diagnosis or therapy from a psychiatrist in Las Vegas.

Currently the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services has a pilot program in Silver Springs that has been successful, said Carlos Brandenburg, administrator for the division.

"We want to expand this program into all rural communities," he said, adding that currently the division doesn't have a psychiatrist stationed in any rural community in Nevada.

"We have them (specialists) go into clinics in rural areas and go out, but always as visitors," he said.