Luzerne County’s Mental Health/Developmental Services agency is scrambling to help thousands of residents navigate fallout from the looming closure of Commonwealth Health’s First Hospital and other behavioral health services, officials said.
County Mental Health/Developmental Services Administrator Tara Fox told county council last week her agency has a $2 million annual contract with Commonwealth Health to provide a range of counseling and treatment services.
At any given time, more than 4,000 residents receive these services in Luzerne County and Wyoming County, which also is covered by the agency, Fox said.
Fox and other county human service administrators are determined to find other providers to help fill the void and individually guide impacted residents through their options so their health does not suffer, she said. Commonwealth Health informed the county it plans to close behavioral health services by Oct. 30, she said.
“Without a solid transition plan, there’s a danger to this. Human lives will be affected. We’re not just talking about business and numbers. We’re talking about people,” Fox said.
She publicly briefed county council on the matter last week, at the request of county Manager Randy Robertson.
While much of the focus has been on closure of First Hospital’s 149-bed inpatient psychiatric unit serving children through adults in Kingston, Fox said more people will be impacted by closure of community-based outpatient services.
This includes Community Counseling Services programs and other therapy that help thousands, including treatment for those with substance use disorder, day development for those with intellectual disabilities, psychiatric rehabilitation and mobile counseling for children in their homes and schools, Fox said.
Community Care Behavioral Health, the insurance carrier that covers the lion’s share of county clients receiving medical assistance coverage, is seeking a request for information from other entities willing to provide services currently handled by Commonwealth Health, she said.
If this effort is successful, the county would have input in the selection of new providers and be required to enter into new contracts to purchase their services, Fox said.
Fox is hopeful new providers will be on board in September, including existing ones expected to take on some of the additional work.
She and her colleagues also are working with the state’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services on identifying new providers and ensuring those in need are linked to an appropriate services, she said.
Many consumers are worried about where they will be receiving treatment and services, she said.
“Even though we don’t know who some of the new players will be, we want consumers to know we’ll be with them through the process of linking them to new providers,” Fox said, noting those with questions are free to contact the agency at 570-825-9441.
Fox told council she strongly believes the First Hospital inpatient unit should remain open under new ownership, but a sale would be up to Commonwealth Health. She has been informed two entities are interested in purchasing First Hospital.
Other entities have expressed interest in purchasing Community Counseling from Commonwealth Health, she said.
Although First Hospital’s closure is now public, Fox said her agency and its clients already had been feeling the effects.
Her agency sent more than 800 residents to in-patient facilities outside the county in the last 18 months, most to Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley area, she said.
“First Hospital was so understaffed, that while it had beds, it did not have staff to fill the beds. A lot of times we were told that due to the acuity of symptoms, the hospital was unable to meet their needs,” Fox said.
Placement outside the area often interrupts the continuity of care because it makes family therapy sessions and connection with local resources more difficult due to the distance, she said.
Overall demand for mental health services has been steadily increasing, Fox said. Her agency is pleased people are seeking support and wants to believe the trend largely stems from stigma reduction.
Unfortunately, the mental health system overall is “seeing an unprecedented staffing shortage,” she said. Existing providers already struggling to keep up with the rising demand will face more pressure due to the closure, she said.
“The closure of any community mental health service is always jarring, but right now the timing could not be worse,” Fox said.
The county’s state allocation for mental health also has essentially remained flat for the past 11 years, Fox added.
“This has dramatically impacted our ability to expand existing services or create new services,” she said.
Other county departments
Robertson also highlighted concerns that have been raised in the correctional services division and public defender’s office.
Due to the enormous prison resources required to treat inmates with severe mental health issues, the correctional division and county mental health had been working closely with Commonwealth Health over the past year to develop a plan that could allow inmate transfer to First Hospital for treatment in the more appropriate environment, county Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich said in a memo to Robertson.
Fox said this program would have been a model community solution.
If law enforcement does not have the resources of a mental health hospital to address individuals with serious mental health issues, it can be assumed that in many cases the only other alternative to a hospital setting will be incarceration, Rockovich said.
“With the announcement of this closing, it is believed that our resources will become even further stretched unless this void is filled by another provider,” Rockovich wrote in the memo.
County Chief Public Defender Steven Greenwald told Robertson every person involuntarily committed for psychiatric or mental health issues is legally entitled to representation by his office.
The staff attorney assigned to that task has performed hundreds of hearings in the last year, he said.
“Virtually all of these clients/patients are admitted to First Hospital. Its closing would be devastating to our community,” Greenwald wrote, indicating he is working with Fox to address concerns.
County council members asked Robertson to keep them updated and alert them if there are any ways they may assist in addressing the problem.