Earlier this year, the Doña Ana County Crisis Triage Center closed its doors to patients. The facility’s behavioral health provider, RI International, ceased operations after the company was denied grant money by the board of Doña Ana County Commissioners.
County officials have cited multiple factors that led to the closure of the crisis triage center. In a recent interview with KRWG, Doña Ana County Commissioner Shannon Reynolds cited cost and the desire to pay an in-state provider to run the center. But, as it stands, the CTC is sitting vacant, waiting for the next provider to fill the shoes left by the Arizona-based RI International.
Javier Cornejo is a former peer support worker. He worked at the CTC and said surrounding communities are in dire need of behavioral health services.
“People in positions of power need to understand that right now we are going through a fentanyl crisis. We are going through a mental health crisis. After the pandemic, anxiety [and] fear in people just rose,” he said.
Supporters of the triage center say crisis centers can help ease the burden on traditional healthcare facilities. According to the latest data from the New Mexico Department of Health, mental health emergencies accounted for 6.5% of emergency department visits in the state between July and September of last year.
Jess Spohn is the former clinical director for the CTC. Spohn said there is a demand for crisis care in Southern New Mexico.
“Our healthcare system is not very easy to navigate, right? So if you need a therapist or you need med management, or [need] peer support, or case management, any of those kinds of things, it can be difficult to try to get it on your own. And so the CTC was a kind of a one-stop shop that we could help connect people to whatever that next step is, help them de-escalate that crisis. Help them feel better.”
Spohn said that operating a 24/7 behavioral health facility isn’t cheap, but the services that the CTC provides are valuable to the public.
The Doña Ana County Crisis Triage Center has been empty since the end of January. But officials are working to change that. Jamie Michael, Director of the Department of Health and Human Services of Doña Ana County said that the county is in the process of finding a new provider for the CTC.
“We’ve got a company that’s capable and viable, and so how do we begin these conversations and get a contract in place? [We need to] take what was working in the past, and learn from some of the challenges. So when it does reopen, we kind of have the best of both worlds.”
Michael said that under RI International, the CTC had to take in at least six patients per day to break even financially, and said that legislation passed last year, which allows people to come to the center both voluntarily and involuntarily, will help cover costs of the crisis triage center. Additionally, Michael said that it’s important for the county to make the center more visible to the public.
“Crisis care and crisis triage centers are still very new. We need to do a better job of connecting with the public, connecting with providers, families and friends, getting the word out that this facility exists, and how it can be used, and how it can be part of a behavioral health system.”
But providers in the surrounding area are feeling the void in services created by the CTC closure, according to Tenika Sosa-Gonzalez, Director of Community Solutions and Impact at FYI Plus.
“In my partnerships with others in the community that are boots on the ground, they have seen an uptick. And they're very they're very concerned,” she said. “We relied on the crisis triage center to be our 24-hour mobile crisis partner for adults. And so working to fill that gap has been where the majority of our efforts have been placed.”
Sosa-Gonzalez said that while the closure of the center has been disheartening, the community response has given her hope for the future of the area’s behavioral health landscape.
As it stands, it remains unclear how long the crisis triage center will be vacant. With the gap in behavioral healthcare, surrounding providers are working to get individuals the help they need, and the county is assessing its options in getting the CTC back up and running. But, for stakeholders like Sosa-Gonzalez, the goal is to continue to address the shortage of mental health resources for southern New Mexicans, and do the best job possible with the community’s limited services.
If you or someone you know is in the midst of a mental health crisis, the 988 crisis hotline provides free support for individuals in distress. By texting or calling 988, you’ll be connected to trained crisis counselors who will provide support and connect you to additional mental health resources.
