NEW PULSE PUBLICATION: The inaugural issue of the PULSE Quarterly Briefing was published in late June and has already received a great deal of praise ("Brilliant" - Fran Silvestri, Director: International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership; "A triumphant inaugural issue" - Paul Lefkovitz, CEO: Behavioral Pathway Systems; "Very useful..." - Elaine Alfano, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law). The PQB comes bundled with two other services, the "PULSE Bulletin" (40 issues/year) and "Recent Resources" (10 issues /year) and organizational subscriptions include access to a set of Internet-based tools for distributing news and announcements. For details on subscriptions, please see the new PULSE Community Site.

 Monday, July 18, 2005

Mental health advocates worry about people falling through the cracks (North Carolina) Goldsboro News-Argus story - "Mental health advocates in Wayne County said Thursday they are worried some people in need of help are being forgotten because of the state's new mental health reform laws. 'This is a pretty wild time with reforms,'said Bobby Jones, president of the county's Mental Health Association. 'We've got to take a stronger role in advocacy because people are falling through the cracks.' Jones made his comments Thursday during the association's monthly board of directors meeting. The association is made up of a group of local volunteers from both the business sector and mental health profession. New state mental health laws are changing the treatment of disabled and mentally ill people by using more community-based resources and less institutionalized care. State law requires local agencies to stop providing direct services by 2007. "  
  

$58M boost for mental health (Canada) July 15 Ottowa Sun story - "Ontario's community-based mental health services got a financial boost yesterday. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care announced it was increasing funding by $58 million this year, with more than $3.5 million allocated to Ottawa-area services. The increase is part of a four-year, $185-million plan by the province to expand services for people with mental illness. It amounts to a 1.5% increase for all agencies, with additional funds for case management, crisis response, early intervention and assertive community treatment teams. "  
  

Simi Valley Hospital to Close Mental Health Unit, Reassign Most Workers (California) LA Times story - "Administrators of Simi Valley Hospital notified employees Friday that the facility's mental health unit would close within 60 days. Behavioral Health Services 'was projected to lose approximately a quarter of a million dollars by year's end,' hospital President Margaret R. Peterson wrote in a letter to employees and volunteers. The '32-bed unit, which has been struggling financially for the past five years, has been averaging a daily census of 10 patients, sometimes [having] as few as four patients a day.' "  
  

Resignation put stress on mental patients (Hawaii)  Honolulu Star-Bulletin story - "When state adult mental health chief Thomas Hester resigned last month, it generated fear and confusion among residents with mental illnesses about services being altered, says U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang. 'Those feelings of fear, confusion and possible abandonment experienced by mental health consumers were unnecessary and unwarranted,' said Chang, special master over the state's mental health system. Chang, a special master for a consent decree ordering improvements in the state's mental health system, made his comments yesterday in his first public statement on the case since 2001, when Chief District Judge David Ezra appointed him to oversee the case."  
  

Trends in Employer-Provided Mental Health and Substance Abuse Benefits Black Enterprise story - "Traditionally, employer-provided coverage for mental disorders and substance abuse treatment has been more restrictive than for other medical care benefits; recent data from the BLS National Compensation Survey show substantive changes in narrowing some of those differences, primarily as a result of State and federally- mandated benefits. Employer-provided mental health coverge has experienced dramatic changes ver the last decade. Prior to the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) of 1996, nearly all employer-financed health insurance plans covered mental disorders, but benefits were traditionally more restrictive than for other illnesses.1 Coverage for mental disorders, for example, was usually for shorter periods, and plans generally provided lower annual and lifetime maximum dollar benefits..."  
  

Consumer Reports Medical Guide Establishes 'Hub' for Dealing with Depression   US Newswire press release - "Today, Consumer Reports Medical Guide introduces its first "mini-hub" within the online medical resource, this one focusing on depression. The Consumer Reports Medical Guide special page on depression features in- depth information about different types of therapies, effectiveness of antidepressants and a brief self-check quiz of possible depression symptoms. Consumer Reports Medical Guide also provides ratings of various treatment options -- pharmaceutical and other -- so patients can determine, with their doctors, the best course of action."