A group of healthcare providers and elected officials from across Yellowstone County are responding as the state moves forward plans to build a psychiatric hospital in Eastern Montana with sights set on Billings as a likely location.
Local leaders released a new report detailing gaps in services that could affect the success of the state’s proposal for a second mental health hospital. The public can learn more next week when the group meets to go over the analysis, said Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings.
About a dozen healthcare organizations put together the 8-page report, working with city, county and state leaders who serve the area. Yakawich said it was provided at no expense to taxpayers.
The analysis outlines limited local resources and describes current struggles in providing services “critical to the success” of a behavioral health hospital in Eastern Montana. It also acknowledges Billings’ long-held status as a regional hub for healthcare and states that providers “overwhelmingly” support the proposed facility.
Yakawich said the group plans to provide the information to the Gianforte administration as officials continue planning for a second forensic behavioral health hospital, which would house those who require intensive psychiatric care and are facing legal troubles or are already incarcerated.
The legislature earlier this year approved $26.5 million for its construction. The state Board of Investments is now tasked with finding a site to build the hospital which will be run by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
While the need to expand behavioral and mental health services across the state has long been discussed, some local leaders said they first heard of plans to bring it to Billings in late July, when officials from Helena invited them to tour potential sites.
Currently, the overcrowded Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs is the only public institution that serves adults with serious mental illnesses.
Yakawich, who supports building a second facility in Billings, encourages people to keep an open mind. He said it’s important to think outside the box in coming up with ways to tackle the state’s behavioral health crisis, which is contributing to local troubles with homelessness, crime and jail overcrowding.
“What’s the definition of crazy? Doing the same thing and expecting a different result,” Yakawich said. “This is a new idea.”
Still, other leaders who were involved in the analysis remain skeptical. County Commissioner Mark Morse said Billings is already home to the Montana Women’s Prison, almost 30% of the state’s pre-release inmates and the largest populations in sober-living and sex offender treatment programs, which all take a toll on neighborhoods and drain local resources.
Currently, he said, county taxpayers provide money to RiverStone Health, Bridgemont Health and Wellness, previously known as the Mental Health Center, the Crisis Center and Rimrock Foundation. But, despite the investment of more than a million dollars annually, local services are still inadequate to meet the need. So, Morse said, he’s concerned the state mental health hospital would further strain county resources.
Local leaders plan to go over the gap analysis during a public meeting scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the CLDI Billings offices, 24 S. 29th St.
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Amy Nile
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