Town lacks adequate mental health, home care, says Ross

LAUGHLIN - Constable Jordan Ross spoke of medical issues during his quarterly town hall meeting Saturday: the lack of mental health and home health services in Laughlin, and the "reprehensible" level of care at the recently opened VA Clinic.

"Whether you have a child or teenager dealing with behavioral problems, whether you're struggling with addiction issues, or you or a loved one is battling depression, there is a tragic shortage - and there has been for years - of mental health services in this town," said Ross. "We're looking for solutions.

"We do have a state behavioral and mental health clinic here in town. Its track record, to be blunt, is not that good. Turnover has been particularly bad."

Ross then introduced Larry Clarke, CEO of Your Choice Behavioral Service, which provides face-to-face therapy as well as tele-therapy services.

"They've been doing some excellent work in Elko," said Ross of YCB. "They also work in Las Vegas, which is where they're headquartered. They're working on developing a model to deliver behavioral health services to rural areas in Nevada. This is critical because it's the rural areas that are disproportionately impacted."

Clarke - who has a degree in sociology and a background in computer technology - said, "We saw there was a need, and one of the things we thought was that an entrepreneur could probably address the problem quickly and adapt quicker than a governmental entity.

"Our goal is to bring these services to areas where there may be one therapist, there may be no therapist.

Tele-therapy carries with it the benefit of privacy.

"Mental health carries a stigma in society," said Clarke. "In smaller communities, people know your business more than they do in larger areas, so if you can do this in your home, you will have privacy."

Clarke's company accepts Medicaid and is in the process of becoming an approved provider with Medicare and Health Plan of Nevada.

YCB therapists have been working in Laughlin for a little more than a year, Clarke explained. They set up office once a week at the Suddenlink Community Center in Bullhead City.

Regarding home care, Ross said his office has recently received calls from individuals who require the service for family members but are unable to acquire it.

"In some cases, they have the income or insurance to pay for it and they still can't get anybody," he said.

"Home care services are particularly important because it's a service that allows people to stay in their own homes longer. In general everyone's quality of life and length of life is better the longer they can stay in their own homes.

"We have some small things: We have the Meals on Wheels program that Silver River does a good job with, and we have the Metro welfare check program, which is also helpful; but there are some people who need more than that."

Ross said he's hoping to find another private company - such as YCB - that can quickly step in and provide the service. He added that he's investigating whether the lack of home health service is due to licensing obstacles faced by caregivers based in Arizona.

"Not only do we have a lot of people who are retired, but a lot of them are veterans," Ross continued. "The level of medical service for veterans is reprehensible.

"We thought a lot of the problems would be fixed with the opening of the (VA) clinic, which was done with a great deal of fanfare. Unfortunately, what we have is a facility? the security officers seem to always be staffed, but that's about it. They've had a difficult time getting anybody in there."

Ross related that he received calls from two veterans who were notified by the clinic that their appointments later that day had to be cancelled. They were told, also, that the rescheduled appointments would be three or four months down the road.

"We opened up the clinic and it's just largely been a big waste of taxpayer dollars since then," said Ross. "We're all aware of the problems the VA has nation-wide. Some veterans in town are just going back to Las Vegas. It doesn't look as though there's going to be an immediate solution."

The constable went on to say that he wants to hear from any veteran who is having problems with the Laughlin clinic.

"I need to know, because the more I know, the more I'm able to present a case that this needs to be elevated," he said. "People can call me and remain anonymous, people can always call my citizen hotline."

Before closing the meeting, Ross reminded the audience that his website - LaughlinConstable.org - contains a variety of information including veteran, senior and social services, as well as animal welfare and legal aid.

"There's a host of obscure programs that a lot of people don't know about that can benefit them," he said.