What's going on with MMC's mental health services?

Memorial Medical Center’s lease legally requires it to keep operating the mental health unit. More than a year ago, MMC closed it, wreaking havoc with citizens who need the service.

Last spring, the psychiatrist running the 5th Floor unit was leaving and MMC was sluggish about advertising the position nationally and paying what the market required.

After investigating, I published a column Jan. 29 asking why the City and County, MMC’s landlords, whose managers sit on MMC’s board, weren’t pushing MMC to keep its promises. Lighting a fire under MMC’s posterior.

MMC CEO John Harris expressed great confidence that the mental ward would re-open during the first quarter [end of March] or immediately thereafter. I’ve kept in touch periodically. Weeks ago I delayed this column because MMC told me a deal [with Peak Behavioral Services, though the MMC person wouldn’t confirm that] to reopen the ward was basically done, and that the announcement, which lawyers had asked be delayed, might come any day. That’s still the message.

It sure seems like someone is gulling someone – and certainly no one’s providing information to the public.

We do know:

We need the 5th floor. Foregoing mental health services or going to El Paso is more or less destroying some number of human lives.
MMC breached its contract by closing the mental ward, has been out of contract for more than a year, repeatedly predicting that it will comply soon.
Neither the City nor the County has sued MMC or even written a letter of inquiry.
MMC is also allegedly in breach of its contractual promise to continue the equivalent of MGH’s program helping folks who can’t pay.
MMC does not feel the appropriate urgency about this.
This is a pathetic failure of corporate and public entities.

At the County Commission’s July 25 meeting, Commissioner Shannon Reynolds criticized County Manager Fernando Macias for not even reporting the problem officially.

Macias basically said it wasn’t MMC’s fault because its contractor quit. Not a brilliant explanation, particularly by a lawyer and former judge. (My efforts to question him failed.)

Read more from Peter Goodman:

I understand from hospital personnel that MMC had advance notice. Alamogordo’s hospital has a psychiatrist. It’s not impossible. MMC didn’t do the utmost to ensure no break in serving vulnerable people. More than another year has passed. Why haven’t Las Cruces and Dona Ana County pushed MMC?

“The contractor stopped work” has a limited shelf-life as a legal excuse. Suppose John Harris is rehabilitating my house. If the roofing contractor quits after ripping up my old roof, and it’s kind of hot, I’ll expect John to find another roofer. Might be a short delay. But 14 months? He still owes me for breach of contract, even if he can sue the missing contractor to help pay the damages.

Psychiatrist Ernie Flores scoffs: “How come they can spend all this money opening up clinics all over town but they can’t reopen one unit?” MMC has reportedly opened clinics treating cancer, cardiology, Ears/Nose/Throat; and a Bone & Joint Orthopedic Surgery clinic. Clinics promising big profits. Profits matter. People?

While MMC and Peak squabble on about dollars, people aren’t being served.

If the City or County had listened when we told them to get aggressive, maybe there’d be a judge in the picture, ordering MMC to get this done before the heat drives us all mad.

But your city and county ain’t doing the job on this one.

Las Cruces resident Peter Goodman writes, shoots pictures, and occasionally practices law. His blog at http://soledadcanyon.blogspot.com/ contains further information on this column.

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