At first glance, the preliminary floor plan for Marian Regional Medical Center’s proposed behavior health facility looks like a spaceship made of multi-colored Lego blocks. But closer inspection reveals that the pastel blues, yellows, oranges, and reds represent what could become Northern Santa Barbara County’s most state-of-the-art treatment center for residents experiencing mental-health crises.
The plans, which are still being developed, include space for geriatric and adult psychiatric units, a crisis stabilization unit, and a food service area. As of right now, the campus—the old Valley Community Hospital on the corner of Stowell Road and Plaza Drive—would also house CARES Crisis Residential North, a county-funded mental health-care facility currently located on West Carmen Lane.
In a recent interview with the Sun, Marian CEO Chuck Cova said expanding mental-health services in the community has been in the hospital’s strategic plan for years. Construction of the new hospital, he said, created a “window of opportunity” because it left the Valley Community Hospital vacant.
Hospital staffers met late last month with the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to go over code requirements to update the facility for a new purpose. They also met with licensing officials to get the facility under Marian’s existing medical license—a move that will allow the hospital to provide acute care to people who are suffering from both mental and physical health problems.
“The plan is to just keep moving forward,” Cova said. “We’ve received the nod of approval from every agency we’ve met with.”
Once licensing is finalized, he said, the next steps are to determine cost estimates and to secure funding for the project.
“[The project] makes sense to everyone,” Cova said, adding that the facility would help the county provide better care for local residents.
The new building would include about 14 to 20 beds for mental health patients who need to be held involuntarily because they pose a threat to themselves or others, and 14 to 18 beds for elderly patients.
About six months ago, Marian staffers presented a proposal for the behavioral health campus to the Board of Supervisors. The board voted unanimously in favor of the project and directed staff to analyze the feasibility of the project with the assistance of a medical consultant firm, Health Management Associates (HMA).
It’s well documented that the county doesn’t have enough medical beds for people experiencing acute mental-health crises. The Santa Barbara County Department of Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services (ADMHS) operates a 16-bed psychiatric health facility in Santa Barbara, and it contracts with local care providers for another 12 beds. Last year, ADMHS paid almost $2 million for five more acute psychiatric beds at Vista Del Mar in Ventura.
A report presented by HMA and TriWest to the Board of Supervisors on May 28 confirmed the lack of beds and included a litany of additional problems with ADMHS.
“In spite of many excellent programs and improvements in financial /compliance practice, a dysfunctional ADMHS organizational climate persists that impedes performance internally and externally,” the report said.
The report also said ADMHS is lacking clinical leadership and needs to develop more community partnerships to offer better care.
Dr. Takashi Wada, director of the Public Health Department and interim director of ADMHS, said the department is in the process of recruiting someone for the top clinical position, which has been vacant for several years because of budget constraints.
“We’re working on the recruitment materials over the next few weeks or months, and then we’ll hold an open recruitment,” Wada said.
The department is also planning to bump its medical director up to full time and to temporarily hire a chief operations officer to oversee systemic changes aimed at improving care for all patients. This includes reaching out more to the Latino community, improving specialized care for people with co-occurring conditions, and increasing access to psychiatric care and substance-abuse treatment.
According to the report, the average wait to see an ADMHS psychiatrist is currently 66 days for adults and 77 days for children.
Wada said the intake process for people in need of help happens sooner, but patients still have to wait to see a psychologist.
Marian’s Cova said the completion of the new facility would give residents, especially those in North County, 24-7 access to psychiatrists and other mental health professionals—something Wada supports.
“It’s very exciting and I think it’d be a great partnership,” Wada said of the project.
He said there have also been preliminary talks with Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara and the Lompoc Valley Medical Center about similar projects, but Marian’s is the furthest along.
Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.