ChristieCare begins negotiations with joint venture partners in Douglas County
ROSEBURG, Oregon, June 18, 2007 – ChristieCare, Telecare and Mercy Medical Center jointly announced today that they have signed a letter of intent to begin negotiations regarding Mercy’s Behavioral Health Unit in Douglas County.
ChristieCare and Telecare have proposed a joint venture in which they would acquire or lease the Behavioral Health Unit and operate it as a freestanding psychiatric hospital, independent of Mercy, and cooperate to provide inpatient, acute care, and crisis services for the residents of Douglas County.
In February 2007, Mercy announced the potential closure of Mercy’s Behavioral Health Unit due to annual losses of $2 million and ongoing reimbursement issues with the state. Since that time, Mercy has been working with legislators and state and county agencies to increase funding, as well as reviewing potential partnership/owner opportunities. ChristieCare and Telecare were among several behavioral health organizations that presented proposals.
“The letter of intent is only the first step in a process that involves careful consideration of funding, service, contractual and other issues. However, Mercy’s Behavioral Health Unit provides an important service in our community and we are optimistic that this venture will allow patients to continue receiving care locally,” said Kelly Morgan, Mercy’s president and CEO.
“ChristieCare, based in Oregon, with offices in Lincoln, Multnomah and Clackamas Counties, and serving all 36 Oregon counties, and Telecare, based in Alameda, Calif., with secure residential treatment programs in Oregon and four other states, are both innovative and accomplished mental health providers with patient care philosophies and missions that closely match Mercy’s; and through their collaboration, adults and adolescents would continue to receive mental health services locally,” said Morgan.
ChristieCare has been serving children and families from Douglas County and the surrounding area on its Marylhurst Campus in Clackamas County for more than 50 years; approximately 20 percent of the children they serve in their residential program are from the southern counties, including Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lane. Under their strategic direction to serve children in their own communities, ChristieCare is launching programs for Transition Age Youth and Treatment Foster Care in Roseburg this year. In addition the organization established a partnership with Options Counseling, Inc. two years ago, which has long been a presence and provider of mental health services for children in Douglas County. This opportunity with Mercy would further fulfill that strategic direction, and be in keeping with their tradition of restoring lives and strengthening families since 1859.
“A new sub-acute program in Mercy’s BHU would allow us to serve children with significant psychiatric needs in their home communities versus bringing them to our campus in Clackamas County, as we have done historically. We are very intentional about working in close cooperation with local communities, and look forward to working with Jefferson Behavioral Health and the State of Oregon to ensure children and families are offered a comprehensive array of services to meet their needs,” said Lynne Hume Saxton, ChristieCare executive director. “It is our commitment to offer strength-based, family-focused, best practice services throughout the state of Oregon. We are taking steps of due diligence as we explore this opportunity with Mercy and Telecare in hopes that we will be a closer resource for southern Oregon families.
Telecare operates a broad spectrum of services across the behavioral health continuum ranging from freestanding acute care units to crisis call centers. Since 1965, Telecare has specialized in providing services to adults with serious mental illness and complex needs. Telecare runs over 60 programs in five states, and has designed and incorporated its own evidence- and innovation-based Recovery Centered Clinical System into these programs to awaken and enliven the recovery process.
According to Telecare’s Vice President Ross Peterson, “While there are still a number of issues to be clarified as part of our formal exploration process, we believe this opportunity has the potential to be a win-win for Mercy, the community, consumers, ChristieCare and Telecare, and we are pleased to be involved in the development of this much-needed community service.”
According to Morgan, a variety of issues must be resolved before a final agreement can be reached, including financial aspects, program funding, and working through the state’s hospital certificate of need process.
For more information, please contact Stephanie Tol at ChristieCare at 503-675-2202; Shea McGuier at Telecare Corporation at 510-337-7952, ext. 159; or Kathleen Nickel at Mercy Medical Center at 541-677-242.