Scripps CEO Calls Out Need For More Psychiatric Beds in SD County

Acute care hospitals, such as the ones operated by Scripps Health, and jails have become de facto behavioral health hospitals as the number of dedicated psychiatric beds in San Diego County have failed to keep up with the need for them, Scripps President and CEO Chris Van Gorder wrote in a recent op-ed article published by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

He called for increases in Medi-Cal reimbursements – which haven’t been raised in 10 years – to a level that covers the cost of caring for these patients and called for government funding to build behavioral health facilities.

Additionally, Becker’s Hospital Review reported on Van Gorder’s op-ed article.

Read the op-ed in the Union-Tribune: San Diego County Has Half the Psychiatric Beds it Needs

Read the Becker’s article: San Diego Jails Have Become ‘De Facto Behavioral Health Hospitals,’ Scripps CEO Says