MonticelloLive

As we strive to create a health-care system that meets the needs of all of our people, it is essential that we work to provide comprehensive care options that meet individual needs. This is especially true when it comes to mental-health care in our State. For more than a year now, we have been working to develop a more extensive System of Care in Arkansas to give our citizens treatment options that better match individual patient requirements. While there is an emphasis in our efforts to find available outpatient services that can prove more beneficial to patients, families, and taxpayers, sometimes the best option is still acute, in-hospital patient care. Recently, we have taken steps to improve access to that care.Northwest Arkansas has long been a source of pride in our State for its rapid growth, economic success, and increasing national profile. However, as is commonly seen with regional growth, building the appropriate infrastructure to meet the increased demands may sometimes lag behind. That was the case with inpatient mental-health care in Northwest Arkansas.

In May, we dedicated our new, vastly improved State Hospital in Little Rock, which will allow the State to provide better services for people suffering from mental illness. I’m proud to say that we will also be able to establish two new facilities, one in Springdale and one in Booneville, to provide additional inpatient psychiatric care.

I recently released $1.6 million toward establishing new mental-health-care beds in Northwest Arkansas, and the legislature has added almost $900,000 more. In Springdale, this money will help construct a 29-bed, inpatient mental-health-care unit at Northwest Medical Center. Northwest Health System will operate the facility along with the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute and Ozark Guidance Center.

In Booneville, state funds will help plans already under way to renovate the old Booneville Community Hospital to create a 25-bed, psychiatric inpatient facility operated by Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center.

Health-care reform is a daunting task at any level, and addressing mental-health treatment can be especially challenging. Today, we must work to foster greater understanding and acceptance of those with mental illness and to recognize the need for a broad array of services. This effort has been a cooperative one from the outset, and further reforms to our mental-health-care system must take a similar approach. It took the combined efforts of legislators, local officials, and providers, to make these inpatient beds become reality.

A comprehensive System of Care for Arkansas will not happen in one bold move, but rather through a series of measured steps to ensure that changes made are the most effective for our citizens and our State. As Ginger did through her Children’s Mental-Health Tour last year, we will continue to listen to families, and we will strive for care that best serves all of our people.