On Friday February 2nd, Lake Region Healthcare announced that it will be closing its Bridgeway Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit in Fergus Falls.
The company cites reduction in demand for services, dwindling admissions, and the inability to recruit permanent physician coverage as the factors for the decision.
“We have worked intensely and innovatively over recent years to recruit new providers who desire to work in the inpatient setting, to adjust admission criteria to increase admissions, and to work with referral sources to identify opportunities to serve more patients in need,” said CEO, Kent Mattson.
Despite these efforts, LRH continues to rely on temporary providers, and are finding that referral sources find placements in different inpatient service models that better fit most patient needs.
While there is a high demand for mental health services overall, the voluntary, very specialized type of inpatient mental health service at Bridgeway is not a match for patient demands of today, with an average of 3 of the 14 beds in the unit occupied.
Mattson added, “our own experience and the experience of surrounding emergency departments is that the type of inpatient services that are in the highest demand don’t fall into the type of service we have offered here.”
While mental health is a common reason for emergency room visits, once patients are medically stable, they are either discharged to the home and referred to outpatient therapy in follow-up, or placement for inpatient treatment is sought at an appropriate facility, which is normally dictated by insurance.
“We want people to know that keeping Bridgeway open won’t help more people qualify for the type of inpatient services Bridgeway is set up to provide.” Mattson said.
LRH has communicated with Prairie St. John’s in Fargo who says their new facility has capacity for future patient needs that previously would have been served at Bridgeway.
Other options, depending on patient needs, include the Community Behavioral Health Hospital, Red River Behavioral Health in Grand Forks, and the Grace Unit in Brainerd, among others.
“It’s incumbent upon on us to use our resources to make the most meaningful impact on the mental health needs of our communities. We know we can better use our resources to serve the mental health needs of many, many more people than we have been able to under this model,” Mattson emphasized.
“Our goal and our commitment is to meet mental health care needs where the greatest impact can be made, which appears to be within outpatient services.”
LRH currently has three outpatient psychiatric providers in its Fergus Falls Clinic: Dr. Dan Traiser, Dr. Jackie Huber, and Nurse Practitioner Genie Loeffler.
Diana Tran, PMHNP starts as an additional provider on the team this month and a fifth outpatient practitioner is expected to join later this year.
They are also looking at a possible addition of mental health services in the Elbow Lake location that would serve the population in that region closer to home.
“We will continue to invest in outpatient mental services to continue to serve and grow in the clinical setting. In the current financial state of healthcare, we must use our resources to make the most meaningful impact on the mental health needs that are in greatest demand in our communities,” Mattson said, adding that LRH will continue to explore new models and opportunities to do so.
“We haven’t ruled out opening a new type of inpatient mental health unit, but we know that any new model of care that might be implemented would require substantial renovation and a very different staffing structure. Things are changing all the time, and we have to keep up with the changing needs.”
Employees of the Bridgeway unit are an important part of the transition plan and LRH is working to help place them in other open positions across the organization.
“We currently have over 60 open positions at LRH, with over 20 of them in nursing positions,” said Patty Roth, Chief Nursing Officer.
“We can’t thank the Bridgeway team enough for the outstanding work they have done on behalf of our patients through the years. They are highly dedicated and skilled mental health professionals and advocates. We have much gratitude for all of them and we are here to support them as they transition,” Roth said.
The transition to closure of Bridgeway will take place over the next six weeks.
State statute requires a public notice and public hearing before the closure of hospital services which is expected to happen in the next 45 days.