Barring a sudden reduction in funding, none of Chicago’s 12 mental health clinics will close in 2010, the city’s new health department commissioner promised patients and advocates last night.
Dr. Bechara Choucair told a restless crowd of about 100 that he was reviewing staffing requirements of the city’s troubled mental health clinics, and hoped to improve services at the centers, some of which have no psychologists.
But, he admitted, “We have a deeply broken mental health system. Unless we all work together, we will always have a deeply broken mental health system.”
His remarks came during a question-and-answer session at the 1st Calvary Baptist Church in Kenwood as mental health advocates, whose outcry halted the closure of four clinics last April, gave emotional testimony about how important the city’s services are.
“I know I’d be lost if it weren’t for my therapists because no one else wants to deal with me,” said Helen Morely, a patient at the North River center in Rogers Park, through tears.
“My problem as a child was abandonment,” said Lonnie Richardson, 71. He said he has battled mental illness for his entire life, and felt the city is on the verge of abandoning patients like him.
“If we all had cancer, we’d be looked after,” said Diana Bryant, also a patient at the North River center. It currently has two staff members.
They worry that city and state budget cuts will require the closure of several centers. The state reduced its contribution to the city’s mental health program by $3 million this year.
Choucair said the health department is working to fix the billing issues, which resulted from a computer system that is incompatible with the state’s system. When billing information is submitted, it is often rejected, resulting in a loss of reimbursements. Last year, the state withheld $1.2 million after the city's failure to bill for services it provided.
“We’ve made some progress with the billing,” said Choucair, who took over for Dr. Terry Mason in December after Mason left to become the county health system’s chief medical officer.
“We’re not where we need to be,” Choucair said, adding the city is successfully billing more for more than 90 percent of its claims since October. The city had billed just $400,000 for fiscal year 2009 in November.
While the city’s 2010 budget includes the 12 centers, Mayor Richard M. Daley last week announced an immediate 6 percent cut to agencies that don’t deal with public safety. It’s unclear how that will affect the health department, though Daley specified no layoffs would be necessary.
The mayor estimates the cuts will save the city $11 million, in addition to furlough days and other labor concessions already in place.
But with some clinics without enough staff, other employees serving multiple clinics and a presumption that the city is trying to push mental health off the priority list, advocates are frustrated.
“We want to see an effort to reverse these problems,” said Darryl Gumm, chairman of the Community Mental Health Board of Greater Chicago.
Gumm and others expressed fears that efforts are being made to turn the city’s clinics over to private practices.
“We are not going to accept privatization,” Gumm said.
Windy Citizen 