A state health official updated lawmakers on the dire situation at Virginia’s mental hospitals Thursday, after she she told five of eight state-run hospitals to stop admitting new patients last week.
Alison Land, the commissioner of Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, said the move reducing the number of patients in the hospitals was to strike a balance with the declining number of staff, to prevent injuries occurring when patients are in a mental health crisis.
“Kind of what's happened is that our safety net is no longer safe and so that's why I took that action,” she said. According to Land, 80 serious injuries have occured since July 1st.
“These are serious injuries and incidents with lacerations...We've had orbital fractures assaults with lots of hematomas and abrasions and broken bones.”
At the top of the department’s requests of $4.3 billion in American Rescue Plan funds is $75 million to raise compensation and bring on more staff. Land told the Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the 21st Century that mandatory overtime and a dangerous work environment aren’t worth it to many possible hires.
“Nobody in this environment is going to take $11 an hour, which is where we start off our DSAs, and come into a facility where they're going to be mandated double shifts,” she said. “You're not come in and do that when you can go and work at Wawa or in some other industry that's less risk.”
Land said the governor’s office has not yet told the department what proposals he supports.
Delegate Mark Sickles, the chair of the Health, Welfare and Institutions committee in the House of Delegates said he wanted to see more money in the healthcare economy.
“We will be making investments to get our pay up because we've lost employees. It's a hard job. We have a workforce shortage.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
