With just 16 beds at Santa Barbara County’s Psychiatric Health Facility, many people experiencing a mental health crisis must get help elsewhere.
"This is the only locked psychiatric acute hospital in Santa Barbara," explained Suzanne Grimmesey, Santa Barbara County Behavioral Health's Public Information Officer, adding that it's almost always full.
Because psychiatric hospitals are notoriously expensive, Grimmesey says creating more won’t happen anytime soon.
"They're very expensive. And historically, federal and state funding hasn't been adequate to meet the funding needs, and that's the main preventer to expanding," she said.
But the mental health calls are expanding. Last year, Grimmesey says the mobile crisis team responded to an average of 180 crisis evaluation calls per month, compared to 149 a month in 2023.
"Many times, that intervention at the right time can avoid a bigger crisis and avoid the need for hospitalization," Grimmesey said.
Public Health’s mobile crisis team and newly added 8-bed crisis stabilization unit have lessened the strain on local hospitals, which often are the first stop during a mental health crisis.
"We need to be able to help an individual in crisis get to a psychiatric hospital in a timely way. And for that, we need more hospital beds," said Paul Erickson, Psychiatric Director for Cottage Health.
Erickson explains that patients experiencing a psychiatric crisis often have to wait days in the ER before being admitted.
"We are experiencing a crisis, and we see many individuals in the emergency department who need a hospital bed for their psychiatric crisis," Erickson said.
He says this doesn’t impact other ER patients' care.
Although there’s been an increase in need, Grimmesey says the county’s crisis continuum is helping get people the help they need.
"Calls that went to the mobile crisis team, about 65% of the time, need hospitalization. The data now shows about 45% of the calls end up needing to be hospitalized. So it tells us that we're going in the right direction, that people are calling at the right time. We're able to provide preventative activities, keep people closer to home, and help to stabilize, stabilize, and get their needs met," Grimmesey explained.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call the 24/7 Behavioral WellnessAccess Line toll-free at 888-868-1649
