That was the original title of this article... the updated title is...
Sacramento County's mentally ill anguish over service cutsBy Cynthia Hubert
Friday, Jun. 25, 2010 - 12:00 am
<snip>
Cuts in programs for severely mentally ill people in Sacramento County are causing high anxiety among patients who fear they will no longer have access to treatment, care providers have told The Bee.
One physician said he has documented seven "serious" suicide attempts, each requiring hospitalization in an intensive care unit, among his county patients during the past two months.
In each case, he said, the patient's chart noted concerns about reduced access to clinics, doctors or treatment programs hit by budget cuts. One of the patients succeeded in killing himself, the doctor said.
"Can you draw a direct line between program closures and an increase in suicide attempts? Probably not. But these numbers are higher than I've ever seen in any year, in 13 years of practice," said Dr. Ron Risley, a psychiatrist and family physician.
Other mental health care providers said that although they have not noted a dramatic jump in suicide gestures recently, anxiety is at an all-time high among people served by county programs.
"This is a very dark reality for them," said Jonathan Royer, program manager for the Suicide Prevention Crisis Line at The Effort in Sacramento. "These cuts have provoked a real sense of fear and trepidation. I can't give you hard data, but people are calling and are stressed out about this."
Jonathan Porteus, clinical director of the nonprofit health center, said his staffers regularly see mental patients whose programs have been cut or are on the chopping block and "tell us they might have to do something extreme to themselves" to get care.
"There is a sense of desperation that they can't get services," Porteus said.
To help solve a budget crisis that affected virtually all programs within county government, the Board of Supervisors in the past year has approved deep cuts to programs that serve the area's most severely mentally ill people.
The county mental hospital closed its crisis unit and half of its 100 beds, and thousands of patients were forced out of community mental health programs. The latest changes will come Aug. 1, when people will begin receiving outpatient care at "wellness centers" run by the county rather than private "regional support teams" that for years have served those patients.
County officials have said they had no choice but to slash critical programs in the face of a $122 million budget deficit, and emphasized that they will work to make sure that patients get proper care.
"Services are not going away," said Health and Human Services director Ann Edwards-Buckley. "There is great concern and effort to reach out to consumers to meet service needs across our system."
The cuts are straining hospitals and private clinics as they struggle to fill gaps in care, and some patients are unable to navigate the changes, providers said. Hospital emergency rooms have been flooded with psychotic people who are facing long waits for care and triggering safety concerns, said Scott Seamons of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California.
Seamons said hospitals and other mental health "stakeholders" have been meeting in recent weeks to discuss the issue.
<snip>
More:
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/25/2847818/sacramento-countys-mentally-ill.html#ixzz0rullJ8lG:mad:
:kick:
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
