EDITORIAL: Positive step addressing mental health

June 09--The challenges, and opportunities for improvement, in Florida's mental-health hospitals and facilities are so great that they warrant the full-time attention of a high-level executive in state government.

Patient and employee safety have been at risk, recruitment of qualified staff is difficult, and the system requires additional funding and better management.

To that end, it's encouraging that the Department of Children and Families, which is responsible for the state's mental-health treatment facilities program, will hire a chief hospital administrator.

The chief hospital administrator will report to John Bryant, the assistant secretary for substance abuse and mental health. Currently, four directors or administrators of programs related to mental-health facilities and hospitals report to the DCF's assistant secretary for substance abuse and mental health. That structure has not provided the accountability and upper-level administrative strength necessary for improving the well-documented shortcomings in care and safety.

The DCF and its secretary, Mike Carroll, hope the creation of a new administrative position will foster a "one hospital approach" that streamlines operations and clarifies roles and responsibilities up and down the chains of command.

The executive will be expected to oversee seven facilities: Florida's three mental hospitals, two "evaluation and treatment centers," a forensic treatment center and a community-care center. The hiring will be, according to the DCF, part of a continuing review of the state's mental-health facilities.

According to the job advertisement, the chief administrator's functions will include ensuring patient and employee safety; maintaining financial health and stability; promoting and improving health-care quality as measured by key indicators; creating a recruitment strategy; managing vendors, including private-sector organizations that operate four of the facilities; monitoring quality and compliance with rules and laws; and communicating and building relationships with DCF leaders, the governor's office and the Legislature, as well as communities.

One advocate of mental-health patients said the DCF's new approach "is a very important step in the right direction."

The job will pay between $165,000 and $195,000, no small sum. But in light of difficulty of the tasks at hand, as well as the political pressures of working in government, a salary in that range will be required to attract qualified candidates.

If the chief administrator is successful, the state will stand to gain significant returns on this investment; if there is failure, it will become even more difficult to persuade the Legislature to allocate extra funding in the future.

According to the DCF, the establishment of the position is in addition to state funding for 116 "direct care" staff, 25 beds, automated medication-dispensing systems and security upgrades. These investments are welcome and warranted.

Unfortunately, Florida has ranked 49th in the United States in per-capita funding for mental-health programs, and the new additions follow cuts totaling $100 million between 2009 and 2013.

Even though the Legislature made some progress on mental-health legislation and funding this year, the efforts were incremental at best. Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, said she was "very disappointed with what little we did." Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, said Florida's low per-capita funding for mental health is "absolutely embarrassing."

We, and legions of Floridians, share their sentiments. We hope the chief hospital administrator will be an effective, caring leader who is able to perform triage, quickly prevent the worst problems from recurring, stabilize and standardize the system and then demonstrate -- to the governor, Legislature and voters -- the need for steady, sufficient and long-term funding.

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