to privatize evaluations of petitioned individuals
I have recently observed my spouse be petitioned for mental health care. The Maricopa County/Arizona system is financially inefficient and not patient centered. My spouse and several others have been waiting in an ER holding area for 3 days now awaiting to be transferred to UPC for evaluation. Seems if the state/county would contract with individual psychiatric groups to visit the patients within 24 hours at the hospital they are located they could more quickly be either discharged or placed so they could immediately begin receiving the treatment they need. Evidently the ONE place that is contracted is not able to provide evaluations with 72 hours as outlined in Arizona law regarding petitioned individuals. It seems that would be a contract violation and they should incur a monetary penalty per individual that is not evaluated within the 72 hours. My spouse was perfectly fine a year ago, but was treated by a primary care physician with an antidepressant, and next thing we know she had no impulse control, became extremely agitated and eventually was petitioned. Previous we attempted to get a psych visit, but was told it would be at least a six months wait for an appointment. The State of Arizona should be embarrassed. If one facility cannot handle the workload in a timely manner, then multiple contracts or as I stated above individual contracts should be used. Even the use of private insurance should be an option so families can get their loved ones the care they need in a timely manner. I would happily pay out-of-pocket for an evaluation to get my spouse out of the ER and into a treatment facility.
We understand your concern and will reach out to you directly to discuss the situation.