WestCare closes doors on Reno detox, mental health crisis center

Editor's note: This story has been edited to include comments from WestCare and fix the spelling of the organization's name.

One of Reno's largest providers of crisis mental health intervention and detoxification care abruptly closed its doors on Thursday, stranding local police with no other options but the county jail or the emergency room for those taken into custody for severe inebriation.

Not only was WestCare the only detoxification center police could take the inebriated, it also was the city's community triage center, helping to stabilizing those experiencing a mental health crisis.

The closure surprised city and county officials, as well as others in the mental health care community.

They said WestCare gave no warning that they intended to close. The community found out when a Reno police officer arrived at the center to book someone into civil protective custody only to find a paper closure sign hanging from the door.

"This is a national non-profit corporation," said Washoe County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Clark. "For them to just do this to our community...I'm just flabbergasted."

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In a statement released late Thursday, a WestCare spokesman blamed a shortage of government funding for the closure and said the company is laying off 35 employees.

“We have been the recovery beacon of hope, and oftentimes, the last option available for our vulnerable men, women, and children," said Robert Vickrey, spokesman for WestCare in a written statement. "We are dismayed that these circumstances have led us to close our doors in northern Nevada and rural areas. Our mission has always been to ‘uplift the human spirit,’ and it’s heartbreaking for us that many people will not have anywhere else to turn during a time of crisis in their lives.”

For many years, the Washoe County jail housed the severely inebriated, giving them a chance to sober up in a safe environment.

But about six years ago, WestCare began accepting those under civil protective custody, providing them with clinical care for detoxing and follow up substance abuse treatment as well.

"That's why WestCare was such a great partner, because they were more of a medical detox environment," Clark said.

Reno Assistant Police Chief Jason Soto said officers now have no other options for civil protective custody beside the jail or emergency rooms, which are already overcrowded.

The jail will be reopening its civil protective custody holding cells to handle the influx of inebriates, Clark said. By law, the jail must keep those under civil protective custody separate from inmates at the jail who are facing criminal charges.

A spokesman for WestCare, which is based in Henderson, Nev., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

But the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services said WestCare had been experiencing financial difficulties for many months. Most recently Health Plan of Nevada, one of the state's largest health insurance providers delisted WestCare as a service provider.

"They have struggled for quite some time to appropriately staff their facilities with the required clinical staff," Julie Kotchevar, administrator of the Nevada Behavioral and Public Health Division, said in an email obtained by the Reno Gazette Journal. "As a result of that, their ability to bill and receive reimbursement declined as did their capacity to serve the community’s needs."

WestCare recently gave up its license to be a community-based health care provider because it was unable to meet federal requirements that enabled it to receive a higher Medicaid reimbursement.

But as early as last week, WestCare told the Nevada Independent that the clinic in Reno would remain open despite those troubles.

WestCare also wasn't receiving promised government funding for community triage services, Kotchevar said. Under state legislation, the cost for the services are supposed to be shared by the state, the local governments and local hospitals.

Kotchevar said the state can't provide its share of the funding until the hospitals and local governments cut their checks to WestCare.

Washoe County relied on WestCare to provide detoxification care for its clients entering the Crossroads program, a housing program that helps individuals overcome substance abuse and chronic homelessness.

"This is a significant crisis for Washoe County because it was 20 beds that we used for detox," said Amber Howell, director of Washoe County's Human Services Agency. "To have that pulled off line all of the sudden impacts our community and the people trying to get treatment."

Both the state and Washoe County are now scrambling to find other health care providers who can do mental health crisis intervention and, more importantly, detoxification care.

"That's what we're doing in a very crisis situation," Howell said. "Our research has shown that we don't really have capacity for detox right now. At this point, we're just trying to gather information on where else people can go."

A new mental health hospital, Reno Behavioral Healthcare, is opening a detoxification center in two weeks, Howell said.