A promise is broken as Truman Medical Centers shuts down emergency room for mentally ill patients

In the angst that accompanied the privatization of the former Western Missouri Mental Health Center, state and hospital officials promised that the emergency room in the Western Missouri building would remain open to treat patients in psychiatric crisis.

Six years later, that promise is being broken. Truman Medical Centers announced last week it was closing its Behavioral Health Emergency Department at 1000 E. 24th St. in Kansas City. Mentally ill patients will use Truman’s nearby main emergency room.

Officials blame regulatory problems. Federal and state officials wanted the psychiatric emergency department to operate more like a standard hospital emergency room, they said, with a doctor on staff, more nurses and more complex equipment.

“It really doesn’t change the level of care,” Truman spokesman Shane Kovac said of the change.

But advocates for the mentally ill are understandably skeptical. They say the Behavioral Health Emergency Department was a valuable resource for families and especially for police, who need a place to transport people experiencing psychiatric issues.

The worry now is that mentally ill patients will experience long waits in Truman’s busy emergency room. Hospital leadership should meet with police and others to seek the best ways to make the new arrangement work.

The broken promise is the result of unwillingness to commit sufficient resources to take care of society’s most troubled individuals. The state of Missouri has never been willing to spend enough money to properly care for this population, and Truman has decided not to make the required upgrades.

It’s an old story, and for patients and their families the ending is almost always bad.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "A promise is broken as Truman Medical Centers shuts down emergency room for mentally ill patients."