Union protests Baker's mental health privatization bid in Southeastern Mass.
Courtesy
Gov. Charlie Baker
Gov. Charlie Baker's administration is pushing forward with a plan to privatize emergency mental health intervention services in Southeastern Massachusetts, drawing the ire of the health workers' union that says the change will dent the quality of care in the region.
The Department of Mental Health has submitted a proposal for review to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance to contract out for emergency service programs and mobile crisis intervention units that provide around-the-clock behavioral health crisis assessment, intervention and stabilization services for those in psychiatric emergencies.
With the exception of four areas in southeastern Massachusetts where these programs are run by the Department of Mental, the other 17 areas of the state are covered by private providers through contracts with the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership.
In a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday, SEIU Local 509 President Susan Tousignant wrote that the privatization plan would "slash emergency mental health services" in the region by eliminating 45 percent of licensed mental health clinicians and 72 percent of medical professionals employed through these programs by the state.
"Such drastic cuts would reduce access to critical care and lead to longer wait times in life-or-death situations," Tousignant said.
The administration disputes the union's characterization of the impact of the change, which officials said would save $6.5 million in the first year that could be reinvested into other areas of mental health care. In addition to operating under the private model everywhere else in the state, the administration said there would be "no loss of service or diminution of quality" in the areas that include Brockton, Cape Cod, Taunton and Attleboro and Fall River.
"The carefully crafted proposal to contract ESP services in the Southeast will deliver the highest level of care possible and will bring this area program in line with the way these services are now delivered in the rest of the state. DMH will continue to maintain the existing ESP services in the Southeast until the plan has been reviewed and certified to be in compliance with all relevant laws," said Health and Human Services spokeswoman Michelle Hillman.
Baker first proposed the cost-saving privatization measure in March as part of his first budget proposal. The Legislature inserted language into the budget prohibiting any reduction in mental health services in the southeast as a result of a realignment of resources, but the administration said it is following the privatization law by drafting a proposal that will be submitted to Auditor Suzanne Bump for review and verification that the plan will save money and be at least of equal quality.
The administration declined to provide the News Service with a copy of the plan until it is certified by Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore.
Mental health workers on Tuesday night demonstrated in opposition to the privatization plan outside Roxbury Community College, where Baker was participating in a panel discussion on substance abuse and mental health. The union hopes to hold similar demonstrations in the future when Baker appears to address mental health issues.
SEIU Local 509 spokesman Jason Stephany said the southeast can ill afford to experience a disruption in mental health services. He said front-line DMH workers have developed relationships in the community.
"The southeast region is among the hardest hit by the opiate crisis and suicide rates on the Cape and islands are four times higher than the rest of the state," Stephany said. "State run or not you can't slash and deliver the same quality of care "To say you're going to institute that dramatic a cut and say you're not going to impact care, the numbers don't add up."
Vic DiGravio, president of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, said his organization supports the governor's proposal. Some members of the association hold contracts with DMH to provide crisis intervention services in other parts of the state.
"Frankly, this probably should have been done by the previous administration at some point," DiGravio said. "It's a system that works very, very well across the state."
DiGravio noted that the Baker administration is following the same "Pacheco Law" put in place decades ago to prevent the unnecessary privatization of government services that the unions championed.
"Nobody is intending to reduce services. The services that our members have bid on to provide are the same services that are being provided now, and being provided very ably by privately operated teams in other parts of the state," DiGravio said. "I'm confident in saying the plan the administration has is not going to result in losing services and the record would show in most cases the privately operated teams are as effective if not more effective, than the state-operated teams."
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