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Legislators Tap Fund for State Hospital

Posted on: Monday, 23 January 2006, 18:00 CST

By Michelle Cole, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Jan. 21--SALEM -- The Legislature's Emergency Board approved spending $9.2 million on Friday to improve conditions at the Oregon State Hospital. That satisfied mental health patient advocates who said they'd drop their lawsuit against the state.

The Emergency Board, a Senate-House committee that addresses state agency matters when lawmakers are not in session, also approved additional money to put more Oregon State Police troopers on the road.

The board deferred action on the $172 million projected budget gap that the Department of Human Services faces, though several members said a special session of the full Legislature is likely later this year.

Lawmakers approved the state hospital request after much discussion and despite complaints from some Republicans about the increasing cost of renovating a leased hospital floor in Portland.

Initially, state officials estimated renovation costs could be as much as $950,000 to accommodate 28 to 32 patients now housed in Salem. But after an architect's assessment, the estimate grew to $2.1 million to care for 24 patients.

House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, warned officials not to come back asking for more money again for the project. But she and several lawmakers also said they recognized the state hospital's pressing safety needs.

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said lawmakers took an important step Friday toward making up for 50 years of neglect of the state's mental health needs.

Last spring, consultants hired to assess the 122-year-old hospital campus reported serious structural deficiencies. One building, which houses about 100 patients, was found to be at risk of collapse during an earthquake. Last month, the Oregon Advocacy Center filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that crowding and inadequate staff also pose a threat to patients and workers.

"We've got to get people out of that building," Courtney said, adding that the hospital needs more staff.

In addition to approving the renovation of the Portland floor, the Emergency Board granted $7.1 million to be used to hire 30 doctors, therapists and other staff in Salem, and to secure placements for 72 other patients in smaller, community-based facilities.

Bob Joondeph, executive director of the Oregon Advocacy Center, the group that filed the lawsuit on behalf of patients, said Friday's vote means the hospital will be on its way to meeting minimum standards.

"It will not create a good facility," he said. "That's the challenge still before us."

Joondeph said advocacy center lawyers will work with the state Department of Justice to draft a settlement agreement to present to the judge.

Money for state police also occupied the Emergency Board's time in the past two days.

On Friday, the board approved $660,000 that will add troopers after the 2005-07 budget eliminated 20 trooper positions in the agency's Patrol Division.

The money pays for hiring 10 evidence technicians, which frees up about eight troopers to patrol roads.

The money is part of an agreement between legislative leaders and Gov. Ted Kulongoski that calls for the state police to return to the Emergency Board in April to seek about $990,000 to pay for 10 new trooper positions.

Friday's votes left about $17.4 million in the state's Emergency Fund. That's not nearly enough to resolve the Department of Human Services' $172 million projected budget shortfall.

While they did not decide how to plug the hole, Emergency Board discussions yielded new insights.

For example, the agency's financial problems are compounded because federal matching dollars are also at risk. If the department does not get the $172 million it says it needs, it will not receive about $210 million in federal matching money.

The agency also reported that its accounting system is not sufficient to track revenue from more than 340 different sources, including the more than $2.5 billion it receives each year from the federal government. In some cases, the agency tracks money with pen-to-paper spreadsheets.

Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, said he hopes a "pretty clear plan" emerges by April. House Republican Majority Leader Wayne Scott, R-Canby, concurred.

Dave Hogan of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

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Source: The Oregonian

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