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County Revises Health Services: Board OKs Keeping Scenic Clinics, Selling 17th Street Facility, Cutting Mental Care

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 12:03 CDT

By Ken Carlson, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

May 17--Stanislaus County supervisors, faced with a decision to close one of its health centers, voted Tuesday night to sell the Medical Arts Building on 17th Street and hold onto the former county hospital site on Scenic Drive, both in Modesto.

In a meeting dominated by health issues, the board also approved an application to have the county's primary care and urgent care clinics designated as federally qualified health centers. If the federal government approves, the change in designation could boost Medi-Cal and Medicare payments to the clinics, giving the health system an increase in net revenue of more than $3 million a year.

In addition, supervisors approved a cost-cutting plan for county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, which will result in the closure of mental health centers in Ceres, Oakdale and Patterson, effective July 1.

The three decisions came on unanimous votes.

All told, the cutbacks will further restrict services for thousands of county residents who don't have health insurance or struggle with mental disorders.

That point was driven home as several county residents stepped to the podium Tuesday evening to air their concerns.

Chris Cataline of Modesto urged the board to look for other solutions besides cutting services for people who have mental disorders caused by chemical imbalances.

"We feel that early intervention greatly enhances their chances of recovery," said Cataline, who has a friend with mental illness.

Other mental health advocates said they knew people whose mental disorders drove them to commit suicide. The speakers asked the board what it was doing to get the state to pay money owed to the county for providing mental health services.

The state has not paid Stanislaus County $6.1 million for treating children with severe emotional disturbances. Patty Hill Thomas, county assistant executive officer, said the state intends to pay the county for unreimbursed services over 15 years. She said county officials are working with local state representatives and county associations to try to get the state to pay sooner.

Grover: County out of options

Supervisor Jeff Grover said the county had no choice but to make the cuts. "We don't have the resources or the options to make the decisions that we want," he said.

In October, the county approved a fiscal plan for reducing an $8.7 million deficit in the Health Services Agency, which provides medical care for lowincome residents.

The plan called for cutting the annual deficits to $3.75 million a year by eliminating dental and mammography services, reducing patient volume, and eliminating one of the county's seven clinics while trying to generate more revenue.

In the past seven months, county staff worked on a plan for closing the Medical Arts Building or the former county hospital site on Scenic, officially known as County Center II, and moving services to other clinics.

County staff told the board Tuesday night that it would be costly to close and relocate all the offices at the Scenic complex. Beside the medical clinics, the center has offices for county personnel who track communicable diseases and others who manage services for the mentally ill.

Some clinical services will move as a result of Tuesday's board action.

The busy family practice clinic and the residency program at Scenic will be moved to the Paradise Medical Office in west Modesto. Officials expect to have the Paradise office remodeled by early 2007 to accommodate the increase in patients.

Pediatrics will move from the Medical Arts Building to the Scenic center. The McHenry Medical Office on Woodrow Avenue will be remodeled so that women's health and obstetrics can move from the Medical Arts Building in July.

By closing the three mental health centers, the county expects to trim $1.8 million of an anticipated $4 million deficit in Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. But the cuts could have financial impacts on the county in other ways, said Denise Hunt, department director.

The county will have increased costs if people with untreated mental disorders are arrested or hospitalized, she said in a report. Individuals might also seek expensive psychotropic medications through the Health Services Agency program for indigent adults.

The county plans to consolidate outpatient mental health services at its centers in Modesto and Turlock, and send personnel to provide medication support to clients who have used the centers in Ceres, Oakdale and Patterson. The county will make arrangements to share offices with nonprofit agencies in the outlying cities to accommodate drug and alcohol recovery groups, officials said.

Some department personnel will be shifted to new programs being funded through the Mental Health Services Act. Behavioral Health and Recovery Services expects to get $4.9 million in annual Proposition 63 funding, but stipulations prevent the county from using the money to plug holes in its budget.

Said Supervisor Bill O'Brien, "It drives me crazy that we are getting all this new money for mental health and yet we are cutting services."

Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at 578-2321 or kcarlson@modbee.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Modesto Bee

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