Sonoma County’s emergency room for psychiatric patients closed suddenly due to mold. Hospitals are feeling the strain

Nearly two months after Sonoma County’s only emergency department for psychiatric patients had to shut down due to a severe mold infestation, local hospitals are now feeling the strain in their own caseloads.

With no secure, overnight option for treating patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies, a growing number of those patients are ending up in hospital emergency departments.

That’s been the case for both Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital and Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, two of the region’s three large hospitals. Representatives for both confirmed their emergency departments are seeing an uptick in mental health patients since the early August closure of the county’s Crisis Stabilization Unit in Santa Rosa.

It may take until the end of the year to reopen the facility, county officials have said.

Last week, the Hospital Council of Northern & Central California, which represents hospitals in the region, issued a statement raising concerns about the closure of the facility, which was not publicly announced by county officials at the time.

“The recent closure of Sonoma County’s Crisis Stabilization Unit is having a significant impact on patients who need immediate behavioral health care services and have nowhere else to seek care,” Meghan Hardin, regional vice president of the Hospital Council, said in the statement.

Hardin pointed out that the CSU is designed to provide 24/7 crisis intervention, assessment and medication services to those experiencing acute mental health crises.

“With this closure, these patients are not receiving the care they need at the right time and in the right patient care setting,” Hardin wrote.

Board of Supervisors Chair David Rabbitt on Monday said county behavioral staff and the property owner are coordinating efforts and working to remove the mold.

County officials said it would likely take another two to three months to complete the work.

Rabbitt acknowledged closure of the facility has exacerbated the lack of local psychiatric emergency services.

“We now have a bigger gap in a system that’s already had gaps,” he said.

Rabbitt said he’s in communication with local hospital representatives about their concerns. He said possible quick fixes while remediation work is being done include contracting with an alternate site or using a section of the county’s short-term treatment psychiatric health facility on Los Guilicos Road in Santa Rosa.

“We know time is of the essence,” Rabbitt said.

Jennifer Solito, interim director of the Department of Health Services, whose Behavioral Health Division staff operate the facility, said in a statement Friday the facility was closed in early August after employees at the site “reported feeling physical sensations and health effects.”

“The health and safety of our staff is of paramount importance to the County, so the CSU was closed and an investigation into the cause began,” Solito wrote.

She said an industrial hygienist confirmed mold growth in several areas of the building, including two types that are hazardous. Completed work includes inspection of rooftop units’ condensation drip trays; correction of temperature and airflow issues; removal and replacement of water-stained ceiling tiles; pest inspection; and remediation of the mold growth in the roof top unit drip trays.

More work is needed to remove mold identified inside the building, Solito said. The facility is located at 2225 Challenger Way, in a complex called The Lakes that’s leased by the county.

County officials said that “partners” in the behavioral health community were notified of the closures beginning Aug. 9 through Aug. 15. Additional providers were notified by email over the ensuing two to three weeks, according to Solito.

Some of the CSU’s operations have been moved to another location at the complex, in a building that houses the county’s Wellness and Advocacy Center and its adult services team, said AJ Berndt, client care manager of the CSU.

Berndt said the adjacent location, at 2245 Challenger Way, is being used as an assessment space to determine patient needs. The location has private interview rooms but does not have overnight beds, he said.

“We’re assessing to see does this person need to go to a psychiatric hospital or not,” he said.

Those who do not need to be admitted to a secure psychiatric facility are connected with outpatient services. When a patient needs to be placed on a psychiatric hold, county staff take the patient to a local emergency department after giving hospital staff “a heads up,” Berndt said.

“We’re well aware of the impact this is having on our ERs and the community as a whole,” he said.

On Friday, a Sutter Health spokeswoman confirmed there’s been an “increase” in mental health patients at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital.

On Monday, Chamia Chambers, a spokeswoman for Providence, said its emergency departments in Santa Rosa as well as Petaluma and Healdsburg had all seen increases in mental health patients since the CSU closure.

However, Solito said Health Services officials do not believe the current impact of the closure to be extensive, while acknowledging the county is still assessing the fallout.

Mary-Frances Walsh, executive director of National Alliance on Mental Illness Sonoma County, called the loss of the CSU a “terrible situation.” But Walsh pointed out that the facility, due to persistent turnover and staffing shortages, has been operating at reduced capacity for years.

Those staffing woes were examined by The Press Democrat as part of its “County in Crisis” investigation published in January.

The facility currently has a maximum capacity of 16 beds but is operated at roughly half that because of staffing shortages. When the CSU was closed Aug. 9, there were only four beds being used at the facility, Berndt said. It’s unclear why the census was so low, he added.

Walsh said a hospital emergency department is not a proper place to treat those experiencing a mental health crisis. She said often patients are waiting long periods to see a mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist who might be on call.

“An emergency department isn’t equipped to de-escalate someone’s condition,” Walsh said. “We simply do not have enough crisis care.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.