Hospital faces more mental health, addiction crises in ER – Silvercity Daily Press

Joe Lutz
daily press staff
The Gila Regional Medical Center Steering Committee, made up of all five Grant County Commissioners, held a regular meeting on Thursday to hear about ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues at county-owned hospitals.
Interim Chief Nursing Officer Cynthia Lewis reported that emergency room visits by patients suffering from mental health and addiction-related crises increased wait times for everyone. Having said that it is focused on better educating staff about palliative care, it is hoped that better solutions can be found to meet the needs of these often devastating patients.
“Recent data show an approximately 30% increase in patient visits for brain chemistry disorders and/or addictive disorders,” said Lewis. “It’s what we see here, but it’s also what we’re seeing nationwide from 2020 to now.
“We mentioned the impact of COVID and the isolation of how society works in general,” she continued. “Understanding the social determinants of health is very important. is.”
Board member Billy Billings shared an anecdote of a recent trip to the ER to accompany a friend with mental health issues. The situation escalated when he brought in another patient suffering from health problems. said it was not very effective.
“I think the training really helped,” Billings said. “We have medical patients, and it seems we have the patients you are talking about. In one environment he combines two kinds of patients.”
The hospital’s chief financial officer, Pat Banks, launched the recently funded Crisis Stabilization Unit at Hidalgo Medical Center. Banks said he had little information about the HMS project, but said he and several board members hoped there would be a better solution in the future.
One of the notable decisions at Thursday’s board meeting was the full-time appointment of Dr. Montaser Shaheen, who has already worked at the hospital’s cancer center for a year with a “locum tenens” status, under a contract with a staffing agency. was to provide a contract for
“[Dr. Shaheen] Interim Hospital CEO Margie Molitor said: “This deal allows us to bring him in as a long-term contract with the hospital rather than through the Rocam agency. It’s a really good deal for us, and a good deal for him and the patient.”
In his own report, Banks reported a modestly positive operating margin in March and an overall neutral operating margin for the year, which is a win in the past and shows the hospital is on the right track. I emphasized that it shows progress.
Board member Harry Browne asked Banks whether the facility’s operating margins actually covered depreciation. The hospital plant is 40 years old, and much of its equipment is old.
Banks said they were more concerned about depreciation than inflation, which would affect the cost of replacing facilities and equipment.
“I feel strongly that the plant itself, the age of the plant alone, is not the entire reason why zero operating profit is kind of a long-term problem,” he said. “The plant and some equipment are old, but the surplus covers the depreciation. My concern is inflation.”
He said he would be very confident if the hospital had zero net profit for the year and it hit 3%.
Molitor said finding a permanent CEO and chief nursing officer remains a priority. She is also working on an employee engagement plan and code of conduct to reduce the wait times referrals spend in financial services to her 24 hours. These initiatives are in response to recent Joint Commission findings, with an improvement plan scheduled for May 19th.

To contact Jo Lutz: [email protected]