Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Kimball County questions diversion

“If you happen see the C.E.O. (John Mentgen) of Regional West,” Kimball County Commissioner, Daria Faden said during last week’s commissioners meeting, “you might ask him, why are you (RWMC) on diversion?”

As a commissioner, Faden serves on the Region 1 board and voiced concern for some issues the county faces when Regional West Medical Center’s mental health facility is on diversion.

She expressed further concern about the amount of time the facility spends on diversion.

When a Kimball County Sheriff’s Office deputy or a Kimball Police Officer has a person placed in emergency protective custody they must transport that person to a facility where a mental health care professional can perform an evaluation as soon as possible.

Faden added that in the month of May, Kimball had two people who needed transferred to the mental health department in Scottsbluff, but because the hospital was on diversion, the patients had to be taken to other facilities.

“They have twelve beds up there, but they were on diversion in May for twenty-five days,” Faden said. “So, then we get stuck taking those people to Kearney.”

Regional West does not staff as they should for their twelve-bed facility and that it is “concerning,” according to Faden.

“It’s very costly to the county, when they go on diversion,” she said. “The Sheriff’s office was telling me that they ended up going and staying the night in North Platte, when they go and take someone down and end up staying the night. Same with Kearney.”

Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway said that at one point his office had to transport a person to Lincoln because there was no available space closer to the Panhandle.

“This can be a big problem. The issue is the time to get them cleared at the hospital first, then transport to North Platte or further... then to have the person back for a mental health hearing,” Gillway said. “That’s time myself or a deputy is away from the county, not to mention fuel, food and lodging that’s out of the county budget. The transfer I did today (6/26/16) was from North Platte and they advised that they are full and unable to take anyone else.”

Faden said that Region 1 Behavioral Health is trying to work on the issue with RWMC.

“Barb Vogel (Director at Region 1) has done a really nice job trying to force the hospital to come to the table and talk about the problem,” said Faden. “It turns out to be really expensive for the county when the hospital unit goes on diversion because then Kimball County has to take people to North Platte or Kearney instead of the unit in Scottsbluff.”