RIVERSIDE COUNTY: New mental health campus sought for Moreno Valley

The acknowledgment is part of a response to a grand jury report on the existing psychiatric center in Riverside.

A new mental health center is being planned for land next to Riverside County’s hospital in Moreno Valley, officials said.

The center was listed in the county’s response to a grand jury report that criticized the county’s existing psychiatric facility.

The official response to the report on Riverside County Regional Medical Center’s Arlington campus acknowledges problems at the facility near the Galleria at Tyler mall in Riverside. But officials say steps have already been taken to improve care.

The grand jury is a judicially appointed panel of 19 citizens who examine the inner workings of public agencies and suggest improvements. In June, it released a report on the Arlington campus, which includes a 24-hour emergency treatment center and a 77-bed inpatient facility for adults and teenagers.

The report found that wrong medications were sent home with patients and medicine in the facility’s inventory was missing or expired. Medicine also was dispensed at the wrong time and doctors transcribed medication to the wrong patient’s chart, according to the report.

In a written response approved by the county Board of Supervisors this week, officials said 18 incidents involving medication were recorded in the six-month period examined by the jury. Almost 26,000 doses of medication were dispensed during that time, resulting in an error rate of less than 1 percent, they said.

“Several of these incidents were ‘near misses’ which meant that patients were not affected because the error was identified prior to the medication being administered,” the response read.

The report also found the emergency center treated 36 to 42 patients a day in a facility designed for 20. Unlocked doors allow patients held on an involuntary basis to leave, nurses’ stations are cramped and medical equipment is antiquated, the report found.

Officials acknowledged “inadequacies” at the campus, which they blamed on the campus’ age and the lack of beds available for mental health care countywide.

“Plans are currently underway to build a new 100+ beds Behavioral Health facility,” the response read. Officials are working with a developer and the goal is to complete the new facility within three years, the response added.

A master plan is being created to develop a medical campus next to the county hospital. Doctor’s offices, an outpatient surgical center and a skilled nursing home could all be part of the campus, which would be built on 32 acres of vacant county-owned land.

In the meantime, officials said they’re looking at solutions at the Arlington campus, including how to lock external hallway doors to prevent involuntary patients from leaving.

An expansion of the nursing stations is being planned and new computers and monitors have been installed since the grand jury’s report, the response read.

August 20, 2015

The Press-Enterprise

By Jeff Horseman