InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/2022/09/09/funding-for-new-behavioral-hospital-approved-plus-other-arpa-projects/)
From left, Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, Sen. Cindy Rosenwald and Sen. James Gray are pictured at Friday's Legislative Fiscal Committee meeting.
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org CONCORD – The state moved closer to the construction of a new behavioral health hospital in south-central New Hampshire when the legislative Fiscal Committee voted unanimously Friday to use $15 million in federal funds in a deal with SolutionHealth, a partnership of the Elliot and Southern New Hampshire hospitals.
As of Thursday, there were still 35 individuals waiting for emergency placement for their mental and behavioral health needs, and the “emergency room boarding crisis in the state is not over,” said state Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, a member of the committee. The matter will head for approval next from the Governor and Executive Council likely in October. A similar proposal for the Epping area was withdrawn and currently there is no deal with the HCA organization, state officials said. There is no specific location for this hospital. The money would be used for both construction of the building and for a contract guaranteeing care over time. The 25 new beds would double the designated receiving facility beds at Elliot, and the 12 new adult voluntary beds would triple Elliot’s existing capacity.
The proposal would also add 25 adolescent/child psychiatric unit beds, 15 child/adolescent developmental disability/autism unit beds, 25 detox, and co-occurring disorder unit beds and 25 geriatric psychiatric unit beds, and other beds yet to be determined.
The facility would also offer outpatient behavioral health services, a substance use disorder medication-assisted treatment center, and partial hospitalization for those services. The committee also approved federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for mobile COVID-19 boosters, more homeless shelters for local communities this winter, and rolled over funds to help renters since the pandemic, among other actions.
About 250 nurses and councilors will get a 15 percent raise and veterans home employees will also see raises along with a signing bonus for winter plow truck drivers. It will be payable in November as a lump sum. About $18 million is involved. The money is coming from federal ARPA sources, as well as about $5 million from the highway fund.
Charlie Arlinghaus, commissioner of Administrative Services, said such bonuses are often offered in times when there are more jobs available than workers. “This is extraordinary, quite possibly unprecedented,” he said, “and probably won’t happen again.”
He said the reason is partly due to the tight employment market and the one-time opportunity to use federal ARPA funds. Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Hopkinton, said there could be a long-term state benefit even though these are one-time funds. The deal was approved by the Executive Council this week but Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, asked Gov. Chris Sununu to use the collective bargaining process instead for raises and incentives. State employees are still without a new contract. Sununu and Warmington both noted that there are vacancies in just about every state department. ALMOST $8M for LITIGATION Attorney General John Formella asked for and received approval for $7,897,067 for general litigation expenses incurred in the defense of the state and the prosecution of criminal laws through June 2023. He noted there is an extraordinary level of funding needed and complex matters that the state is now undertaking in the Department of Justice. MONEY FOR SCHOOL SAFETY About $4 Million was approved to help protect the state’s schools from threats with security improvement grants through June of 2023. NEW FUNDING AND FUNDS ROLLED OVER TO HELP RENTERS Since COVID-19 began, there have been 21,590 New Hampshire households in 228 communities helped with federal rental assistance totaling about $210 million. To qualify, at least one household member must be on unemployment or have had their pay reduced. For more on the program visit https://www.nhhfa.org/emergency-rental-assistance/ The Legislative Fiscal Committee authorized what is essentially a rollover of about $12 million of those original funds set to expire at the end of September to another traunch of funding through 2025. It also approved $15 million for additional emergency rental assistance. Caswell, who heads up the program to distribute such financial relief, said he hopes there will be another round of funding to help folks noting that the leap to buying a house has become much harder and further in the past few months. But he said he anticipates that the program will end at some point. $6M FOR MOBILE VAN/VACCINE BOOSTERS The committee voted to approve more federal funds for mobile vaccines. Rep. Jess Edwards, R-Auburn, expressed concern that the science follows and criticized the CDC and said he wanted something specific on the science so we have clear accountability that someone has done the research and it is safe. HHS Director of the Division of Public Health Services Trish Tilley said in terms of the science of the vaccine, Dr. Benjamin Chan has reviewed the literature and found safety and efficacy in the vaccine, including for those under the age of 5. Chairman Rep. Karen Umberger, R-Conway, said she would like to see Chan’s reviews and Tilley said she would supply those documents. The state has suffered one death of a child and 2,600 adults have died from COVID-19, Tilley said. It was the third largest cause of death in the state last year. “We continue to have on average one death a day. Covid has not gone away,” she added. We know that there are indications of long COVID from children who have had COVID-19, Tilley said, “so we think it is an effective policy to have vaccines available.” There is no requirement to get a vaccine and it is a private decision, she said, as opponents of vaccination were present in the room in the Legislative Office Building. “But it is our job and policy direction to make it as easy and possible to access in every nook and cranny of New Hampshire,” Tilley said. She noted communities ask for the van and it is dispatched. Tilley said over 2,000 homebound individuals have been able to receive vaccinations for COVID-19 using the van. The state’s Executive Council will be asked to approve the funding next month. Vaccines are also available at pharmacies and doctor’s offices including the new iteration of the vaccine which is arriving in the state now, Tilley said. $5M FOR HOMELESS SHELTER HELP Passed this past week by the Executive Council, the committee also approved additional funding to help shelter the homeless across the state this winter. NEW BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL The committee voted unanimously to take the first steps toward a new behavioral health hospital, estimated to cost between $50 and $55 million through SolutionHealth in the Southern region of the state. Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed helping Portsmouth Regional Hospital build a new facility in Epping with $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, and Friday, the agency proposed almost identical spending from federal pandemic rescue money with Elliot Hospital and Southern New Hampshire hospitals. The previous plan was opposed by a majority of Executive Councilors and was withdrawn by the agency and has not been put on the council’s agenda since March.
Several members of the council were not comfortable with the state picking a hospital without a proposal going to bid, nor entering into a public-private agreement that could compete against private organizations. Health and Human Services officials said the state was unable to reach an agreement with (Portsmouth) HCA. The plan would be twofold: offset capital costs and in return received a guarantee for services. Rep. Edwards asked about whether there was competition and noted he was told HCA got the first contract because no one else was offered to bid. “Now we hear Elliot open to this? Did the situation evolve or did we not do the homework up front?” he asked. Health and Human Services officials said there were originally two interested parties. Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, asked if the department could clarify if there would be a net increase in 25 beds. Nathan White, chief financial officer for DHHS said that based on the letter of intent, 25 beds would be doubling the existing capacity. Rosenwald, while noting there were 35 adults in the state Thursday waiting for emergency beds, said, “I’m hopeful about this proposal, but we have some leverage with this funding and I am hoping the department will use it.” White said the plan would likely be to grant in two major phases. One would be construction costs. The second would be when the hospital was ready to go live, a 10- to 20- year commitment would be entered with certain levels of service and reporting requirements to the state. “We would also ensure there be clawback provisions if services were not provided,” and there could be an extended length of the contract. State Sen. Gary Daniels, R-Milford, asked about justification for such a hospital and noted COVID-19 tends to be “an anomaly.”
“What are you doing to address what happened during Covid so that it doesn’t happen again?” he asked. Assistant HHS Commissioner Morissa Henn said we don’t yet know how long the impacts of COVID-19 last but like other massive events which have disrupted life like Hurricane Katrina the impacts can last for decades. The funding from the federal government is intended to alleviate impacts caused by the pandemic including behavioral and mental health impacts. “We may have increase acuity for a long time to come,” Henn said. She noted this project is part of the state’s 10-year mental health plan “to really assure we have services” also noting the new behavioral health hospital for children at Hampstead. The next meeting of the Fiscal Committee is set for Oct. 14.
We depend on your support. A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service.
Holland, Mich., is the first city in the nation and right now the only one that uses heat to keep snow off their sidewalks.
By Staff Report MANCHESTER - Police arrested Kayla Montgomery, 32, Friday after she failed to appear for a court hearing Thursday.
By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org Data breaches at several New Hampshire medical facilities involving potentially 150,000 people were reported to the United States Department of Health and Human Services since the start of 2021.
InDepthNH.org Proudly Presents Our 2022 Annual Report By BOB CHAREST, InDepthNH.org In seven years, we have focused on reporting unbiased, ethical news.
By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org The state does not want a former guard at the Sununu Youth Services Center, also called YDC in Manchester, being prosecuted for allegedly raping children incarcerated there to testify in the civil lawsuit representing victims, claiming he is too frail to talk.
InDepthNH protects independent journalism that holds government accountable to the people. Our investigative reporting prompts civil discourse that spurs citizens to action. We reveal wrongdoing, corruption and influence-peddling while giving voice to the disenfranchised. InDepthNH fulfills the press’ watchdog role as envisioned by the founders of our democracy.
We depend on your support. InDepthNH.org is published by the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism. A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service.
Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.