|
Brainerd, Wadena sites for 16-bed psychiatric hospitals Move part of deinstitutionalization process Associate Editor Brainerd and Wadena are among several outstate locations that will be the site of 16-bed acute in-patient psychiatric hospitals.
Doug Seiler, regional administrator for state-operated services, described the move as part of the deinstitutionalization process the state has been engaged in since the late 1970s and early 1980s. Other locations where plans for hospitals are being made include Alexandria, Bemidji, Fergus Falls, St. Cloud, St. Peter and Monticello.
The hospitals will be operated by state employees and will be state-licensed, Seiler said. Positions in the hospitals will be made available to the current state staff. He said part of the rationale for decentralizing the system is that clients receive visits and medical and ongoing service support in their individual communities.
Federal law, he said, plays a role in the move to smaller-sized hospitals.
"Anytime there are more than 16 beds you lose the opportunity for funding reimbursement and it adds cost to the county," Seiler said.
Seiler said the plan to move toward the 16-bed hospitals was devised by a mental health authority with representatives of Wadena, Todd, Morrison, Crow Wing, Aitkin and Cass counties.
The year 2006 is still the target date for moving the adult mental health population out of the existing Brainerd Regional Human Services Center campus, Seiler said. The possibility exists, Seiler said, that the state and Crow Wing County could reach agreement on some sort of continued use for the human services center.
Currently, Seiler said there are 56 clients at BRHSC who would be appropriate for the 16-bed hospitals.
"We will provide those services until there is another avenue," Seiler said. "If no one comes forward ... we would more than likely continue to do it."
The Wadena hospital will be on the east edge of the Fair Oaks Lodge campus. It will be built by a private developer, according to the Wadena Pioneer Journal, and leased by the state.
In Brainerd, Seiler said bids have been requested but the state has not yet received a firm proposal. He said state officials hope to have bids and leases in place soon so construction or renovation can begin as soon as the frost goes out of the ground.
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
|
Overcast, 19°
