MHI closure would impact Washington County

    The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) has recommended closing the mental health institute (MHI) in Mt. Pleasant and moving the services to Independence, a move that would affect mental health patients across southeast Iowa and potentially the 92 people who work there, including one from Washington County. 

    In May, the Iowa Legislature asked DHS to decide which of the four mental health facilities in the state ? Mt. Pleasant, Independence, Clarinda or Cherokee ? could be closed with the least negative impact on services. Upon learning the Mt. Pleasant facility was selected, Washington County officials began to wonder how the possible closure would affect their day-to-day operations.

    Bobbie Wulf, Washington County mental health director, said the most obvious impact of the decision is that it would mean fewer beds for mental health patients, which she said there is already a shortage.

    ?It is a well-known fact that there is a lack of psychiatric beds across the state of Iowa,? said Wulf. ?It will take us much longer to find a bed for one of our mental health patients if the Mt. Pleasant facility closes.?

    Not only will beds be harder to find, they will be farther away, too.

    ?It will be more difficult for the families of mental health patients to visit them if they have to spend several hours on the road,? said Wulf.

    Wulf said that her department might have to rely more on private hospitals to house mental health commitments, which is more expensive than using state facilities.

    ?When we have to commit someone for a mental health issue, the first place we turn is the University of Iowa Hospitals,? said Wulf. ?If that hospital is full, we?ll send the patients to Mt. Pleasant. If that isn?t available, we?ll send them to a private hospital with psychiatric care, like the one in Burlington.?

    The reason the University Hospital is preferred is because it doesn?t cost the county any money to send a patient there, said Wulf. The county pays $230 per day for each patient that is housed at the Mental Health Institute (MHI) in Mt. Pleasant. Wulf said private hospitals charge between $500 and $1,000 per day.   

    Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said he is particularly worried about people who need drug and alcohol rehabilitation. MHI is one of the few facilities in the state that includes a dual diagnosis ward to treat people with both mental health and substance abuse problems. Dunbar said that, if those programs were eliminated, it would spell bad news for inmates recovering from addictions.

    ?Instead of getting the treatment they need in a mental health facility, we?ll have inmates waiting in jail,? said Dunbar.

    Dunbar said it will be much less convenient to transport mental health patients to one of the other facilities in Iowa. He said Independence is the next closest facility, and that is two hours away. He said Clarinda is more than three hours away, and Cherokee is close to five.

    ?If we can?t take our mental health commitments to Mt. Pleasant anymore, it?s going to mean more wear and tear on our vehicles,? said Dunbar. ?If I have to send a deputy to Independence, that?s four hours out of the day that he can?t spend in Washington. If he gets back late, then we have to pay overtime, so this is going to be costly for us.?

For the full article, see the Dec. 15 edition of the Washington Evening Journal.