CARROLL: State must step up to help the mentally ill
The Rapid City JournalFeb 21, 2017
Everyone agrees our ability to care for the mentally ill is severely limited. I remember the first time I walked into
There's a reason employees in the facility "restrain" and "isolate" problem patients beyond reason. It costs too much money to build proper facilities, and it takes too many people per patient to do the job. Unlike sports medicine or orthopedic practice, where the return on investment is jaw-dropping, the remuneration to medical care providers for mentally ill patients is a flat loss.
It takes two to six or more people 24 hours a day to care for every serious mentally ill person, many times the cost of care for the merely sick or injured. Governments - local, state and federal-do not pay providers enough to make care worthwhile.
If there was any money in it, we'd be seeing the kind of investment in facilities
Although we grant
Second, our state programs are struggling to keep pace with modern notions of mental illness and standards of care. From drug abuse to autism, we simply don't meet the need anywhere in
Even in
I agree that this problem does not belong to one entity or one community. It is, however, a duty of government to either establish an environment for success for mental health care providers or to take on the duty on our collective behalf. We must give ourselves statutory responsibility to maintain standards of care that don't disappoint the Joint Commission, at a minimum.
It's time to put our heads together and solve this crisis. Only a community-wide effort makes sense, and the Legislature will play a pivotal role. "Nonprofits" must do more with their huge profits and not by raising fees to patients and insurance companies. A legislative summer study group that includes people who provide care and people who need care should convene in time for the 2018 Legislature.