The Milwaukee County Mental Health Board, created by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2014, is moving ahead on its strategic plan to reorganize and downsize the county’s mental health services.
According to testimony at a May 21 meeting of the board’s finance committee, it is planning to move the county’s community-based services into three locations, with facilities on the north and south sides, as well as a centrally located administration office.
Also moving ahead is a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the county’s acute care services, which has been in the works for a few months and likely will be released to bidders this summer.
Patricia Schroeder, director of the county’s mental health complex, told the Shepherd the RFP would cast a wide net for ideas on how to efficiently serve those who need acute care for their mental health needs. Acute care is the most expensive service provided by the county’s mental health division, Schroeder said, and the county’s Behavioral Health Division (BHD) must live under a stringent state-imposed tax levy cap.
Schroeder said alternative models include a state takeover, some form of public-private partnership or having a private entity provide these services.
“What our board asked us to do was to evaluate those [options],” Schroeder said. “In order to evaluate those in a neutral and objective way, we should do that with a request for proposals that outlines a scope of services, the expectations, and asking if anyone is interested in working with us to do that.”
The RFP is slated to be released in July, and Schroeder said it would take about six months before a decision could be made. The board will take up the RFP at its June 25 meeting.
Schroeder said the board needs to look at alternative models because its current acute care facility needs to be upgraded but the board doesn’t have bonding authority, severely limiting its ability to finance a new facility.
“Part of this also connects with a new facility, a new building,” Schroeder said. “We cannot sustain this footprint. Building a new building by either us or someone else is going to take several years. We know this is a several-year window. We’re just hoping that everyone works with us and our staff has a level of confidence. We need great care to continue.”
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Schroeder said about 100 patients would be affected by the RFP.
“These patients would still get services,” Schroeder said. “It’s just the entity that would provide management. Milwaukee County would enter into a long-term contract with them.”
High Staff Turnover
Schroeder said she’s been very transparent with BHD staff about the proposed changes and has held meetings with them to discuss the proposed changes.
But behavioral health nurse Jeff Weber, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5001, told the Shepherd that while Schroeder has talked to nursing staff, she’s provided conflicting information about which services would be included in the acute care RFP. Weber said BHD is trying to cope with a huge amount of turnover as the RFP moves forward.
The reorganization of BHD is a major undertaking by the new Mental Health Board, which was established last year by Republican lawmakers state Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin) and state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) and cheerleaded by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The legislation stripped county supervisors of any oversight of the county’s behavioral health services and placed that power in the hands of the appointed Mental Health Board, which ultimately reports to Abele. Abele approves the board’s budget, which supervisors cannot alter as part of the county budget process. Recently, it came to light that Abele singlehandedly approved a $50,000 raise for Health and Human Services Director Hector Colon.
The new board holds public hearings and is subject to open meetings requirements, but rarely takes public testimony. Audio and minutes of previous meetings can be found on the board’s website. The board will allow public testimony on its proposed 2016 budget at its June 18 finance committee meeting, to be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex Auditorium, and at its full board meeting at 3 p.m. on June 25 at the Washington Park Senior Center, 4420 W. Vliet St.
