Oregon 5th Worst State in Caring For Adult Mental Illness

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Joanna Evoniuk, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Oregon is one of the worst states to have a mental illness in, according to a new national report by Mental Health America. Moreover, problems with the Oregon mental health care system make other organizations struggle to pick up the slack.

Oregon was ranked as the 5th worst state in the nation due to the number of adults with mental illness and the general poor access mental health care. The rating looked at the most recent available data available, which fell between 2010 and 2014.

“It’s a broken system in Oregon, that’s for sure,” Liz Stevenson, Department Administrator for Psychology at OHSU, said. “We have far more people calling for help than we can help. The wait lists are months or even years long.”

Over the years, the closing of mental institutions, budget cuts, and a broadened definition of mental illness has caused a strain on care for the mentally ill.

The 624,000 adults with any mental illness make up over 20 percent of Oregon’s population, the 4th highest percentage in the country.

Trickle Down Through Criminal Justice System
The sheer amount of mentally ill residents in the state has put a strain on other social services and institutions.

In 2010, seven out of 10 state inmates needed some type of mental care, according to the media reports.

In the last four years the state had doubled the amount of criminal suspects that are sent to the state mental hospital, for want of another option.

Police increasingly have to deal with the mentally ill on the streets, especially in Portland. In the state’s largest city, a number of mentally ill adults have been killed in police custody or through police use of force.

In 2014 a federal judge passed police reforms for the Portland Police Bureau and aimed at improving the way in which police communicate with and use force on mentally ill suspects.

A report to last year’s state legislative session said there many mentally ill were involved in the criminal justice system because of untreated or undertreated issues.

Lack of Care Option
In 2012, 137,000 adults in Oregon had some sort of mental illness and were uninsured. Overall, 34.8 of adults with a disability could not afford to see a doctor for their problems.

Over the last 30 years, live-in state treatment institutions for the mentally ill—such as Fairview in Salem, Dammasch State Hospital in Wilsonville, and Eastern Oregon Hospital in Pendleton–have been shut down.

Stevens said private facilities or criminal institutions now make up the majority of residential care options for many of the mentally ill.

However, some advocacy groups think health organizations can only go so far to help the mentally ill.

The definition of mental ill has grown overtime to include less threatening disabilities—such as difficulty with mathematics. However, Jerry Iverson, office manager for the Eugene mental illness advocacy organization Mind Freedom, said different levels of mental illness are often treated the same by doctors who are quick to prescribe drugs.

“We are looking at ways of making profits more than helping people,” Iverson said. “It seems like between the pharmaceutical and health care industry, [mental health care] has become a cash cow for select few.”
Increasing community involvement and support is one way to help all types of mentally ill people deal with the social stigmas and find help, Iverson said.

“Once upon a time we had close knit communities, where you knew who was suffering—it wasn’t just some crazy person yelling at a fire hydrant—and you would go make sure they were ok,” Iverson said. “We don’t have that as much anymore.”

In the report, 58.5 percent of mentally ill Oregon adults said they needed help transitioning from a treatment setting to being on their own.

State Funding

Oregon has recently begun to focus its attention on funding for the mentally ill. In last year’s state budget almost $60 million was spent on the community mental health system. The governor’s 2015-2017 proposed budget plans to invest a $53.2 million increase into the system.

Starting in 2015, more Oregon residents will have increased access to mental health care under the Affordable Healthcare Act, according to Rebecca Gibson King with the Oregon Health Authority’s Addictions and Mental Health Division.

Stevenson said health care providers are focusing on rebuilding training programs to help doctors care for mentally ill patients and be resourceful with their small staff and resources.

“We’ve tried all kinds things just to spread some innovate ideas that actually work, but it’s difficult,” Stevenson said.

Related Slideshow: 30 Oregon Nursing Homes with the Most Deficiencies

Below are the 30 Oregon nursing homes with the most deficiencies in federal health and safety standards. Homes are listed in order of least to most deficiencies. Data encompasses inspections over a three to four-year period in order to provide a more complete picture. Some nursing homes may have since corrected the deficiencies identified during the most recent inspections. Source: federal Medicare data obtained through the ProPublica database.

Oregon 5th Worst State in Caring For Adult Mental Illness

Related Slideshow: 30 Oregon Nursing Homes with the Most Deficiencies

#30

Hood River Care Center

#29

Hearthstone Nursing And Rehabilitation Center

#28

Marquis Springfield

#27

Corvallis Manor

#26

Village Health Care

#25

Fair View Transitional Health Center

#24

Prestige Care And Rehabilitation Of Reedwood

#23

Avamere Rehabilitation Of Eugene

#22

Columbia Basin Care Facility

#21

Hillside Heights Rehab Center

#20

Porthaven Healthcare Center

#19

Prestige Care And Rehabilitation - Menlo Park

#18

Baycrest Health Center

#17

Avamere Crestview Of Portland

#16

Avamere Health Services Of Rogue Valley

#15

Providence Benedictine Nc

#14

Regency Gresham Nursing & Rehab Center

#13

Presbyterian Community Care Center

#12

Rose City Nursing Home

#11

Saint Alphonsus Care Center

#10

Sheridan Care Center

#9

Regency Hermiston Nursing & Rehab Center

#8

Sherwood Park Nursing & Rehab Center

#7

Green Valley Rehabilitation Health Center

#6

Glisan Care Center

#5

Milwaukie Convalescent Center

#4

Marquis Piedmont Post Acute Rehab

#3

Gresham Rehab And Specialty Care

#2

Marquis Mt Tabor

#1

Laurelhurst Village Rehabilitation Center

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