Bartlett Regional Hospital has been looking at adding a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit (CAMHU) for quite some time, but might have to start out by treating youth in mental crisis on a smaller scale first.
As detailed in Bartlett’s presentation to the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly on Monday night, the hospital has had trouble finding a partner to create the facility. Chief Behavioral Health Officer Sally Anne Schneider and the Bartlett Hospital Board of Directors presented to the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly what they believe could be the first step to supplying further mental health care for youth.
The board’s recommendation is that the hospital and city supply services for youth with psychiatric issues, as well as better opioid addiction treatment. Specifically, they’re proposing a “crisis stabilization” model, which would provide short-term beds with intensive treatment for those in mental crisis. This would include physician oversight in a welcoming setting.
“The whole goal of these type of programs is to divert an inpatient admission and get youth home as soon as possible,” Schneider said.
It’s still unclear on how many beds would be included in the initial plan, but Juneau Youth Services has expressed interest in helping Bartlett run a program for youth in crisis. Schneider said that partnership would be a “game changer.” There was no action taken at Monday’s meeting to move the project forward, but Schneider is hopeful that beds for crisis stabilization could be up within a year.
“I think the Assembly’s been very supportive of Bartlett as a functioning member of the city,” Schneider said, “but getting some consensus and support in this community for children’s services is very important.”
The board proposed Monday that the city reallocate $2.2 million from the CAMHU to crisis stabilization and intensive outpatient services for youth mental health. The board also proposed that $1.2 million goes to a detoxification bay at Rainforest Recovery Center to more effectively treat the increasing number of young adults dealing with addiction, as well as $600,000 for safety conversion areas in the Emergency Department for youth awaiting transfer to other facilities.
Assembly member Loren Jones said he didn’t see enough hard data for the city to make that kind of financial commitment, especially because the hospital has funds set aside for emergencies and projects. Bartlett Chief Executive Officer Chuck Bill responded by saying that the hospital is looking to hold on to those funds in case the state slashes funding during this budget cycle or in the case of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Bill said an ACA repeal could cost Bartlett between $3-4 million with cuts to Medicaid.
Even with those financial challenges facing the hospital, Schneider said she still wants to increase the amount of mental health resources for Juneau’s youth.
“I think looking at children’s services into our community is a huge priority,” Schneider said to the Empire on Monday. “I think addictions, the sheer number is huge as well as our community’s crying out for help in those areas, so increasing access to service is really key. I would also state that if you start treating children earlier, you may not have the issues of addictions later on.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com
