FAYETTEVILLE -- A 20-bed substance abuse and mental health treatment center for veterans is set to open by the end of the year on the grounds of the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, the medical center director said Friday.
In addition, the center is drawing up plans to open a 15-bed acute care mental health center on its grounds, Director Bryan C. Matthews said. Matthews met with local news outlets to answer questions and provide an update on plans.
A lack of mental health care beds, particularly acute care beds, has been a problem in Northwest Arkansas for decades. The shortage has been serious enough to draw attention in the state Legislature. Mental health care providers contacted Friday, however, were not immediately prepared to comment, they said.
Matthews' meeting is part of a nationwide effort of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs local directors to make the public aware of efforts to improve service. These meetings are follow-ups to a Wednesday news conference by the overall head of the agency, Secretary David Shulkin. Shulkin addressed poor service at several Veterans Affairs facilities around the country. Chronic problems included long waits for appointments with care providers.
The Fayetteville hospital and related clinics, however, received the highest rating in an internal review by the department of medical care. That same review was severely critical of other facilities. States with at least one medical center receiving a one-star rating on a five-star scale included Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Oregon and Montana. The Fayetteville facility received a five-star rating.
The Fayetteville campus and related clinics have avoided all the scandals brought out in the department over the years, but not all the challenges, Matthews said. In particular, the system has challenges in recruiting specialists. Matthews has been director in Fayetteville for about a year and a half.
The shortage of specialists means the medical center has to refer patients to providers outside the system. In other states, outside referrals for care is a major cause of delays in both getting appointments for patients and in paying those outside specialists in a timely manner.
In Fayetteville, the medical center has been successful in staying on top of the appointment and payment challenges, Matthews said. The center has an average wait for care of one day for regular care, no more than four days for specialist care and less than a day for mental health care, he said.
As for payment of outside specialists, he said that 93 percent of such bills incurred are paid within 30 days. One such outside provider is Washington Regional Medical Center. A spokesman for the center said Friday that the hospital would check its records to verify Matthews' claim but had no reason at this time to doubt it.
In another development, the local veterans system has reduced the amount of opioid painkillers it prescribes by 80 percent since 2013, Matthews said. This curtailment came about in response to reports nationwide of addiction problems with that type of painkiller, he said.
Commentary on 06/03/2017