Northern Michigan needs a facility to help people with mental health needs.
That’s one of the recommendations in a new report from the Michigan House of Representatives.
The report focuses on a severe lack of psychiatric hospital beds, with Michigan ranking 47th nationally in bed availability. It’s particularly bad in northern Michigan with some adult patients needing to travel 100 miles or more — either downstate or out of state — because of a local shortage of psychiatric beds.
Kate Dahlstrom, president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Grand Traverse, said a new mental health facility in northern Michigan could change that.
“It would bring medical care for disorders or conditions close to home that are not being provided,” Dahlstrom said.
Dahlstrom testified before the House committee compiling the report. Her testimony highlighted the unique needs of northern Michigan, which the report describes as a mental health care desert.
For kids needing inpatient mental health care, care is even worse with zero dedicated inpatient psychiatric beds in northern lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
“We shouldn’t be sending all of our kids and half of our adults — and again half is an estimate — downstate or out of state when they need care," said Dahlstrom.
Now, Dahlstrom is meeting with northern Michigan lawmakers to push for the facility to be included in the next fiscal year’s budget.
The Michigan Behavioral Health System report grew out of hearings last year where lawmakers heard testimony from more than a dozen experts across the state.
The report also recommends investing in staff training and allowing more flexibility in regulations.
