THE JOURNAL RECORDWednesday, March 6, 2013 journalrecord.com Vol. 118, No. 46 • Two Sections

Answering an urgent need

BY SARAH TERRY-COBOTHE JOURNAL RECORD

OKLAHOMA CITY – Dr. MuraliKrishna wants to address an urgentmedical need for Oklahoma City:mental health care.

The president and chief operatingofficer of Integris Mental Health,Krishna said the city lacks a compre-hensive residential treatment facilityfor people who suffer from mentalillness or substance abuse. So he anda team of yet-unnamed partners areworking on plans to develop a BettyFord-type treatment center thatwould serve people from a range ofsocioeconomic backgrounds.

But the challenge is building abusiness case for such a facility.There is an emergent need for resi-dential and inpatient mental healthcare services. The ideal treatmentcenter would need to serve payingclients, those with insurance, andthose with no money. Krishna said heand a working group are trying to fig-ure out the right mix so the facilityisn’t subsidized by a private entity.

In Oklahoma, only one in threepeople who qualify for mental healthor substance abuse services receivestreatment, according to theDepartment of Mental Health andSubstance Abuse Services. On anygiven day in the state, 600 to 900people are on a waiting list to getinto a residential treatment facility,said Steven Buck, deputy commis-sioner for that agency.

“Oklahoma has continued to havea significant treatment gap for peo-ple who step forward and say theyneed help,” Buck said.

In many cases, by the time theperson has been called from the

waiting list, they’ve been arrested orcan’t be found, Buck said.

Stanley Hupfeld, chairman of theIntegris Family of Foundations atIntegris Health, is working withKrishna to determine the businesscase for a possible comprehensivetreatment facility.

“If you have a family memberimpacted by addiction, money or posi-tion doesn’t shield you from this prob-lem,” Hupfeld said. “You don’t want tohave to send your child or young adultout of state for treatment.”

Oklahoma has the lowest mentalhealth funding allocation per capita inthe nation, Krishna said. And whileKrishna, Hupfeld and Buck applaudGov. Mary Fallin for an increase infunding for the state Department ofMental Health and Substance AbuseServices, that agency has seen dramat-ic cuts in prior years. In 2008, theLegislature cut $36 million from thedepartment to help close the statebudget gap.

“But the system is treating to acuityrather than for prevention,” he said.“More early intervention would bemerited and warranted.”

In addition to a lack of inpatientbeds, the state doesn’t have an ade-quate follow-up system, Krishna said.Many people need a residential facili-ty, medication and therapists to sup-port them and prevent an addictionrelapse or to monitor anti-psychoticprescriptions. Few hospitals have psy-chiatric facilities. Because healthinsurance historically has underfund-ed mental health services, it is difficultto recoup the investment spent on thatkind of care.

Krishna and Hupfeld said theworking group is trying to determinethe right mix of patients that would

make a multimillion-dollar facilityfinancially viable; most high-endtreatment centers charge $1,000 pernight. Hupfeld said the working groupis trying to determine the needs ofpotential patients.

“You want to address those whodon’t have the resources, but also beattractive to those who can pay,”Hupfeld said. “It’s finding the right bal-ance of having enough patients, and notto be a drain on its parent organization.”

Verna Foust is the acting CEO ofthe nonprofit organization Red RockBehavioral Health Services. Herorganization has a contract to providemental health care to people onMedicaid. She said inadequate fundingof mental health services is not new.

The state is in desperate need ofmore facilities for people with seriousmental illness. Having a new facility inOklahoma City would help, Foust said.But she said it must be affordable.

“You can build the biggest, mostwonderful facility, but if people can’tpay for it, it won’t help,” she said.

Krishna and Hupfeld’s workinggroup is looking at the philanthropiccommunity to help cover the capitalcosts to build an emotional wellness

and substance abuse center. Krishnasaid he couldn’t release names ofpotential partners until all the detailsof the capital campaign have beenfinalized. Hupfeld said there areenough people in Oklahoma who havebeen affected by mental illness or sub-stance abuse that people will con-tribute to a capital campaign.

“We think this will resonate withfoundations,” Hupfeld said. “Thequestion is just, ‘how much?’”

The need for a comprehensiveemotional wellness and substanceabuse center is clear, he said. But theworking group is still trying to figureout if they can raise $1 million or tensof millions. Krishna said the workinggroup is trying to determine how toraise money to build the facility andfind the right balance of patients:those who can afford $1,000 per dayand an average reasonable cost forother patients.

“I would love to think of that com-bination,” Krishna said. “Our ability toraise the funds to build this kind offacility, the intense need of this com-munity and those who will step for-ward to help, that is something wehave not solved yet.”

Integris leader seeks tobuild mental health

treatment center

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