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March 17, 2010

Crisis center closing brings questions

Director working on counter-proposal to keep parts of building open

By Dan Linehan Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — The impending closing of Mankato’s crisis center has left Blue Earth County with questions about where its users will go for treatment.

The 10-bed facility, operated by the state but slated to be closed in early May due to a budget shortfall, was designed to help people who don’t need a hospital but are worried about getting to that point.

Last week, the state announced it was closing the building as part of a redesign of its mental illness services with its users being taken care of in a St. Peter facility.

The Blue Earth County Board heard Tuesday that it’s not that simple.

When it opened in 2006, the crisis center wasn’t meant to occupy the hospital niche of the St. Peter facility, Human Services Director Bob Meyer said.

It was meant to help people stay near their homes while forming partnerships as a facility among the state, providers and counties  — much the same direction as the state would like to go.

“It looks to us that in three years they want to rebuild what we already had,” he said, referring to the state’s three-year plan.

The clients of the crisis center reacted with “tears” and “a lot of emotions” to the news that it was closing, Meyer said.

Meyer told the County Board that he and others are working on a counter-proposal to preserve portions of the crisis center, but acknowledged it was a “long shot.”

Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital is likely to see more people seeking psychiatric help as a result of the closing, Meyer said.

Dr. Read Sulik, assistant commissioner for chemical and mental health services, said the state had to cut $17.2 million from its state-operated services budget in this biennium, which ends in June 2011. It estimates $1.3 million in savings in just over a year to be realized from the closure of the crisis center. Some of the crisis center’s 14 employees may be able to take jobs elsewhere in the state.

He said the crisis center isn’t being closed because its type of pre-hospital services aren’t needed. They are. But it is more efficient to provide multiple service levels in one location, Sulik said.

The St. Peter facility has extra capacity, he said.

It does not offer the lower-level services of the crisis center, but he said the state is looking into designating a few of its beds for “crisis” patients.

“... In going through this whole redesign process, one of our consultants really advised us strongly that our 16-bed facilities could be providing inpatient and crisis services in the same facility,” Sulik said.

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