Riley County commissioners spent their last meeting of 2015 on Monday morning discussing an issue that will no doubt carry into 2016: the state of mental health care in the region and state as a whole.
After commissioners — minus Ben Wilson who was absent — renewed the county’s contract with Pawnee Mental Health Services for 2016, its director, Robbin Cole, updated them on the struggles her facility and others face, which largely include funding issues from the state and how high demand and inadequate levels of service have combined for a nightmare dilemma.
Cole spoke about the recent challenges Osawatomie State Hospital is facing, which has led to a loss in federal Medicare funding due to substandard conditions for both patients and employees.
Cole told commissioners the hospital, where a 21-year-old staff member was raped by a patient in October, will lose $900,000 a month in Medicare payments until it improves standards.
Riley County Commissioners Ron Wells, left, Robert Boyd and Ben Wilson.
And while Pawnee Mental Health hasn’t faced those degrees of problems, it still deals with overcrowding and long waits for those seeking care.
Cole said what used to be a proactive approach to mental health has turned into a reactionary crisis-based approach, which has strained law enforcement staffs who have had to pick up the slack and are doing so with little training in how to deal with those suffering from mental illness.
Commissioner Robert Boyd said he was empathetic to the funding issues, but for him, there’s a bigger picture to it, especially when it came to Osawatomie.
“It’s not that it’s the money, it is the fact that the care and the facility don’t meet agreed upon standards,” he said. “It’s substandard service and facilities that are unsafe and unhealthy for Medicare patients, and that’s why we lose the money.
“It is a care issue and we’re behind. We’ve done an abysmal job of tending to this, and we’ve known about it for years.”
Cole said low wages for mental health care staff in the state create high turnover and frustration. It also makes it tough to find the sort of staff the job calls for.
Boyd said he’s been disappointed in the lack of leadership from Topeka.
“They’ve known about this for three years. We have seen this. We know what we need to do,” Boyd said. “If we don’t, we are in far worse executive shape than I ever imagined. We know what we should be doing. We need to commit to doing it and getting it funded and moving on, and getting the state hospitals back up to standards.”
“How do we accomplish that, though,” Commission chairman Ron Wells added. “I’m only one voice, and I do know Gov. Brownback pretty well, but it doesn’t do any good to talk to him — I’ve always tried that on some other things — but how do you change that?”
Wells was also empathetic to the low salaries staff are paid, especially concerning the requirements of the job.
“Why would a person want to go take a chance of getting harmed — even a security person — for $13 an hour?” he said.
Cole told commissioners they could help by reaching out to other counties.
“Part of the strategy might be communications that you have with county commissioner that are in the counties of key legislators,” she said.
Riley County commissioners have already met with City of Manhattan leaders and Pottawatomie County commissioners in hopes of partnering for a regional mental healthcare facility and Cole, who is also a part of that effort, reported that she’s spoken with various local entities for input on such a project that she will share during the next joint meeting between local governments.
Wells said improving mental healthcare in the region will be one of the commission’s priorities for 2016. While he and Boyd agreed the state needs to step up its role in standards and funding, both said it may be up to local solutions to combat the issue.
Boyd said he’s hopeful the problem can be tackled — despite the state’s budget woes. Wells, while equally determined to find a solution, said he wasn’t confident Riley County’s cause would get much help outside it.
“I’m not a pessimist but a realist,” Wells said. “This is an election year coming up. All of those legislators are worried about getting elected. They’re not worried about conducting business.”
