The Montana State Hospital is tens of millions of dollars over budget as it prepares to apply for federal recertification with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). State health officials said they are making progress.
State Health Department Director Charlie Brereton said his office plans to apply for recertification of the state hospital by the end of the year.
CMS pulled certification in 2022 due to patient deaths and dangerous conditions at the facility. That means the state hospital can no longer receive Medicare or Medicaid funding.
According to documents given to state lawmakers this week, the state hospital is over budget in part due to spending about $46 million on contract staff this past fiscal year.
Brereton said the health department is working to boost pay for staff in order to reduce reliance on contract workers.
The state is also working with contractors to review infrastructure improvements, has hired more administrative staff to improve patient safety and the facility is searching for a new CEO.
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The state health department is offering $6.5 million in grant funds to help county jails offer mental health evaluations, medication and stabilization services to inmates. The hope is that inmates on the waiting list for care at the Montana State Hospital can get that care in jail instead. -
The state health department could be split in half under a bill that would break up the state’s largest agency. -
Montanans with severe mental illnesses that are accused of crimes can languish in jail for more than a year as they wait for a bed at the state psychiatric hospital. New legislation would build a facility for those patients in eastern Montana. -
Montanans living with severe mental illness are cycling in and out of ERs, jails, shelters and the state psychiatric hospital. Many never get the long-term help they need. One Missoula woman has been caught in that cycle for years. Her daughter uprooted her life to help. MTPR's Aaron Bolton brings us their story and reports on whether proposed reforms to the state mental health system offer them hope.
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Legislation that would allow the state psychiatric hospital to deny court-ordered commitments is on hold. State health officials and advocates disagree about whether more patients can be served in the community.
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State health officials want to add more facilities for discharged state hospital patients who need support reentering their community.
