Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr expressed public frustration that Cottage Health was not doing more to meet the county’s unmet need for in-patient, medically supervised detox beds. Noting that Cottage had purchased three other hospital facilities in the past several years, Farr stated, “It would be nice if they could find a detox bed in each hospital,” Farr said during a Board of Supervisors meeting last week. “That might solve the problem right there.” Farr said she intended to repeat the same concerns this week at a “community listening” session organized by Cottage’s director of population health, Elizabeth Majestic.
Farr’s comments came during board discussion over significant service gaps in treating the county’s mentally ill and drug-dependent population. One of the key gaps identified by the county’s Behavioral Wellness director, Alice Gleghorn, was the total absence of in-patient detox beds that could be paid for by Medi-Cal. Gleghorn said she thought four such beds would go a long way to meeting existing needs, enabling her department to treat up to 50 clients a year.
Of the detox beds now available throughout Santa Barbara County, Gleghorn said, all relied on what’s known as the “social” model of service. For individuals suffering from acute chemical withdrawal — whether alcohol or opioids — Gleghorn said more direct medical interventions are often warranted. Farr, an outspoken advocate for better mental-health and addiction services, asked whether Behavioral Wellness could simply “purchase” the four needed beds from Cottage. Gleghorn responded that Cottage does not accept Medi-Cal reimbursements for such services.