The Bernalillo County commission on tuesday August 27 took several actions meant to expand the newly minted Bernalillo County Healthcare Authority. That included approving nearly $800,000 in funding for programs.
More than half of that 鈥� $463,000 鈥� will go to for people needing detox.
The center is based at the county鈥檚 Comprehensive Assessment & Recovery through Excellence, or CARE, campus. Director of Behavioral Health Services Jessica Jaramillo-Salazar said most of that funding will go to staffing.
鈥淲ith that amount, we鈥檒l be able to have a couple of more nurses that are specifically for observation and assessment, what we have seen is we鈥檙e kind of in a little bit of a crisis,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are hearing from our clients that the fentanyl pills鈥t鈥檚 a shortage. And so, a lot more people are needing detox.鈥滻n a move that seeks to ease logistical challenges, the commission also approved that would allow better communication among different behavioral health providers, both with the county, and private health services.
The City of Albuquerque is on the project and will be contributing to the annual operating costs as well.
Commissioner Eric Olivas pointed out that previous attempts for similar programs at different levels of government have failed because providers often didn鈥檛 have the resources to onboard the systems, or pay for staff who would be necessary to ensure they run properly.
鈥淧roviders are a little bit skeptical of this stuff, because, A, they鈥檝e seen them come and go before,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut, B, I think the more powerful reason is that they just haven鈥檛 had the support.鈥滲ut Wayne Lindstrom, who heads the county鈥檚 Behavioral Health Division, says the county will provide both a carrot and a stick to ensure proper data entry and sharing. It will offer financial and logistical assistance to providers to set up the system, and penalties for those who don鈥檛 comply, although he didn鈥檛 offer details.
And lastly, the state approved to the new Healthcare Authority鈥檚 Advisory Board.
The board will help Lindstrom in setting policy and leading the county鈥檚 Behavioral Health Authority.
Support for this coverage comes in part from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Ed鈥檚 Note: This story originally aired Monday Sept. 2
