Columbia River Mental Health Services, a homegrown nonprofit agency and a major provider of mental health services in Clark County, will turn over management of a secure inpatient facility to a for-profit company.
Telecare, based in Alameda, Calif., will take over the operation of Hotel Hope in September. In the meantime, the facility will close for the summer.
Hotel Hope, located at the Center For Community Health on the Veterans Affairs campus, is a 12-bed inpatient facility for people who are having severe mental health crises or are in immediate need of drug or alcohol detoxification.
“It’s an evaluation and treatment facility for severely psychotic people — people who are having really bad episodes or are in a toxic condition,” said Pat Stryker, spokeswoman for Columbia River Mental Health. “Unless you have an evaluation and treatment center, these people wind up being taken to jail or state hospital, or just turned loose on the streets. That’s very bad for them and for the community. It puts everybody at risk.”
Stryker said Columbia River Mental Health helped Clark County develop Hotel Hope in the mid-2000s. It was the result of a state push for more evaluation and treatment centers. The facility opened in late 2006.
“We treat everyone like a guest, just like the name says,” said Stryker. “We have the least possible restraints, and we work with people in a very intense way to determine their needs. It takes very special nursing and medical skills.”
This year, the county decided to hold an open competition for proposals to manage Hotel Hope. There were three applicants, according to Geoff Knapp at the Clark County Department of Community Services, and a panel of community experts scored their proposals. Telecare came out on top.
Once word spread that management would change hands, Stryker said, members of Hotel Hope’s staff started moving on. Because of that, Columbia River Mental Health decided to close the facility as of June 30 rather than accept the county’s offer of a short-term contract to keep it open until Telecare is on the job. “We didn’t feel that would be good quality care for our patients,” she said.
People in need of the intensive inpatient services Hotel Hope has provided will be referred to sister facilities elsewhere in Southwest Washington, she said, until Telecare is ready for them.
“We are proud of the work we did there, and we wish Telecare well,” Stryker said. She said CRMHS will work with Telecare to ensure a smooth transition.
The budget for Hotel Hope for the 2009-2010 fiscal year was $3.1 million, Knapp said, and Clark County has budgeted $3.3 million for the coming year. The county and Telecare are negotiating a contract now, he said.
Columbia River serves approximately 6,000 patients each year with a variety of programs, from residential and outpatient treatment to employment and youth programs. According to its website, Telecare operates facilities in California, Texas, Nebraska, Oregon and North Carolina.
Scott Hewitt: 360-735-4525 or scott.hewitt@columbian.com.
