State health officials Thursday updated lawmakers on their plan to improve care at the Montana State Hospital and to apply for federal recertification in roughly 18 months.
Health officials expect the facility to be $38 million over budget this year as it deals with a heavy dependence on traveling staff and the loss of federal funding. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pulled certification following patient deaths, blocking Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements from flowing to the state hospital.
Diane Rafferty with the consulting firm Alverez and Marsal listed several recommendations to help the state hospital work toward recertification. Among them is closing down what’s known as the Spratt unit, which serves elderly patients with severe mental health conditions.
“When you look at the facility in Lewiston for the nursing care center, it’s built for and could maybe improve the care delivery if we move those Spratt patients to the nursing care center.”
Rafferty also noted that the Spratt unit building would need substantial repairs in order to be recertified by CMS. Rafferty added that the state needs to reduce its overall dependence on the state hospital to take care of people with mental health conditions. The hospital serves as the only psychiatric hospital for adults in the state.
“This is a lofty goal, but it is very important for your state and the citizens you serve to look at, what is a regional health care delivery system?”
The state health department is asking lawmakers to approve Gov. Gianforte’s $300 million budget request to reform the state’s behavioral health system. Health department director Charlie Brereton told lawmakers he envisions utilizing a little over $100 million of that behavioral health reform fund to build two regional mental health centers to provide care for up to 100 patients.
Those centers would provide a higher level of care than community mental health services can provide, while utilizing state hospital beds for patients who need the highest level of mental health care.
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Aaron BoltonNearly two years after losing federal certification, the state’s adult psychiatric hospital in Warm Springs is facing leadership shakeups and turnover of medical providers and key staff. -
Courtesy Montana State Hospital/Montana State HospitalState health officials said they will pay community providers to do court-ordered mental health evaluations. Scam artists are trying to trick Montanans out of their money or sensitive personal information. -
iStockphoto.comWorkers in state-run medical facilities will soon get a raise. This comes as the state struggles to hire permanent medical workers, but state health officials have a plan to recruit and retain more staff. -
Courtesy Montana State Hospital/Montana State HospitalState Health Department Director Charlie Brereton said his office plans to apply for recertification of the state hospital with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by the end of the year.
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The state has announced its first plans for spending a $300 million pool of money created to boost Montana's ailing mental health and disability care systems. -
Families of former Montana State Hospital patients are suing the state. They say the state failed to prevent neglect, injuries and other issues at the psychiatric facility.
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Courtesy Montana State Hospital/Montana State HospitalThe Montana State Hospital’s forensic unit has been struggling for years to keep up with the number of inmates criminally committed to the facility. That’s led to long wait times in jail cells for inmates awaiting treatment. State health officials said they have a way to fix the problem.
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Josh BurnhamMontana Free Press reporter Mara Silvers joined MTPR's Austin Amestoy with details about the Montana Health Department hiring a New York based consulting firm to guide the state as it undergoes a multiyear overhaul of its behavioral health services. -
Aaron BoltonHealth department officials are asking legislators to change criminal commitment laws amid a bottleneck at the Montana State Hospital. -
Courtesy Montana State Hospital/Montana State HospitalMontana’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is recommending construction resumes on a project updating the wastewater treatment facility at the Montana State Hospital. The state issued a stop work order earlier this month, after learning that 3 million gallons of partially treated wastewater had leaked into Warm Springs Creek.
