Happy day for mental health care in SETX

For the last 50 years, proponents of Southeast Texas mental health care expansion have been working to facilitate meeting the needs of this community; now, with local representative Dade Phelan serving as the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, state lawmakers have not only heard the pleas of the people, but have answered the SOS call with $70 million for expansion of inpatient services at Baptist Behavioral Health and construction of a new behavioral health care facility that can meet a growing need for outpatient care, as well.

During a formal announcement of the funding on Feb. 27, Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas administrators and staff were joined by community stakeholders and Speaker Phelan to celebrate the momentous step forward in local mental health care. With the funding, Baptist will embark on the creation of a new integrated care clinic that allows Baptist Behavioral Health to offer inpatient and out-patient behavioral health services for the greater region, as well as add 72 new inpatient mental health beds, including 36 civil beds for behavioral health.

“This session, I made it a priority for the Texas House to better address Texans’ mental and behavioral health issues and needs, especially with regard to supporting Texas children,” Phelan shared, the results of which were an allocated $11.68 billion in state funding for behavioral health care across the state including mental health community hospitals and grants. “I am proud to have secured the necessary funding … to build the first comprehensive mental health center in Southeast Texas. Baptist Behavioral Health’s new facilities will be an invaluable lifeline for our region’s children, families and seniors in dire need of mental health care.”

As detailed at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Southeast Texas has been home to a severe shortage of inpatient behavioral health care beds for years – and the region possesses no outpatient treatment that courts and police can utilize. Meadows conducted an assessment of mental health care across East Texas, including Jefferson County, in 2018, and found “a significant number” of adults and children living with a mental health condition, some of which were severe, largely untreated. Those with severe cases in combination with other impairments had difficulty leading independent lives, including maintaining employment, housing and relationships, and often their condition led to involvement with the criminal justice system.

The 2018 Meadows report likewise referenced “an acute shortage of behavioral health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, counselors, therapists and social workers,” particularly, “in rural and economically disadvantaged communities.”

Post-COVID-19, said Administrative Director of Behavioral Health and Psych Program Services Garrett Craver, the local need for mental health care – and menta health care providers – expanded exponentially. In addition to expanding facilities and services, Baptist is also growing its own mental health care providers, now offering a residency program for qualified doctors that has drawn in a host of new providers.

Baptist Hospitals’ ability to treat “mind and body” is a game-changer, according to Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas CEO Justin Doss, who added that emergency rooms are frequently clogged with persons in need of mental health care that the facility is illequipped to treat in its current state.

“Our goal,” Doss said, “is for sameday or next-day care for those who need it.”

In years past, access to immediate mental health care was non-existent. According to Doss, even today, such immersive mental health care is rare and, “This would not have been possible without Dade and Kim Phelan.”

The new integrated care clinic will allow staff to serve as a single point of contact to coordinate and support patient needs to be able to better serve a range of specialized patient populations, including children and youth at risk of entering the juvenile justice system – a longtime mission for Kim Phelan.

“Baptist Behavioral Health’s new integrated care clinic and expanded inpatient facility represents a tremendous step forward in addressing our region’s mental and behavioral health care needs for generations to come,” Phelan expressed. “Residents of Southeast Texas often have to travel long distances or endure long wait times to access needed care. They often have to receive treatment at emergency departments in local hospitals, which typically do not have behavioral health inpatient units. This also puts a strain on our community hospitals and emergency medical staff. Sadly, Southeast Texas children and youths experiencing a behavioral health crisis have limited options for treatment.”

Prior to Phelan’s election to Speaker of the Texas House, Orange County didn’t even have a hospital. Thanks to funding from the recent legislature, health care in Southeast Texas has seen a boon to the benefit of the residents of the region. Medical and mental health care at home, Phelan shared, is a priority of his work in Austin.

“Addressing the mental and behavioral health care needs of our region is a sure way to building stronger, more prosperous communities and ensures our friends, family and neighbors have the resources and support needed to live happy, productive lives,” Phelan said. “I want to thank Baptist Hospitals’ leadership and staff for their important work providing services, training and support for those with behavioral health needs and for working with me and my office to ensure the necessary state funding was secured and directed in the most impactful way.

“I also want to thank my wife, Kim, for her commitment to ensuring greater mental and behavioral health care access in our community, especially for Southeast Texas children. I remain committed to ensuring Southeast Texas has the support and ability to care for those in our community needing mental and behavioral health services and will continue to look for ways to expand access to these vital services for our region.”