Baptist Health CEO: Psych Beds Being Cut in National Trend Because They're Unprofitable
By Derek Gilliam, Florida Union Times, Feb 12, 2014
Boards of directors rarely give a pat on the back for losing $3 million in a single department in a single year, but that’s exactly what happened at Baptist Health.
“My board looked at me and said, ‘keep up the good work,’ ” said Hugh Greene, chief executive officer at Baptist.
The $3 million loss at Baptist came as the hospital’s Behavioral Health Department provided more services than it was reimbursed for and it’s a problem that Greene said is endemic across the country.
“Let me share some harsh realities from the hospital industry. Hospitals across our state and region and the nation have cut back on money-losing psychiatric beds,” he said.
But Baptist believes part of its mission is to try to meet the mental health needs of the community.
Greene was a speaker at the first meeting of Jacksonville Community Council Inc.’s community inquiry into mental health services. About 115 people attended the first meeting at WJCT Studios, 100 Festival Park Ave., Wednesday morning.
There will be mental health discussions held at the studios every Wednesday at 9 a.m. The discussions, sponsored by Baptist Health and the National Board for Certified Counselors, will conclude in August.
While it may be a trend nationally, Greene said his hospital is expanding services, but not fast enough to meet demand. A recent mental health facility Baptist opened on the Southside already has a three-month waiting period, he said.
“We really cannot grow fast enough,” he said.
Other hospitals in the area reported they also haven’t cut back on psychiatric beds.
Orange Park Medical Center spokesman David Goldberg said its beds for mental health patients are consistently full. He said the hospital plans on opening a geriatric behavioral health unit with 26 beds later this year or early next year to meet the unmet need of the community.
Dan Leveton, spokesman for UF Health Jacksonville, said they have 43 inpatient beds for the mentally ill. That number has stayed the same for the past several years, he said.
Greene quoted from a recent New York Times article that said there are three times as many people suffering from mental health illness in prison as there are in hospitals.
The reason beds are being cut is economics, he said. Services for the mentally ill are “never adequately reimbursed,” and beds that could go to profitable care are taking their place, he said.
The state government turning down about $53 billion spread out over 10 years to expand Medicaid services doesn’t help, Greene said.
“I don’t understand that at all,” he said.
Times-Union editorial page editor Mike Clark was the other speaker.
“The state of Florida accepts funds for all kinds of things, highways [for example],” Clark said. “But when it comes to health care for poor people, we say we don’t want the money? It’s just ridiculous.”
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