Search Narrowed for New Mental Health Director

The five-month search for a San Diego County mental health director is nearing an end, as interviews of “three or four” finalists began this week.

Interviews are expected to continue into next week, and will be followed by extensive background checks before a decision is made, said Dr. J. William Cox, director of the county Department of Health Services.

Cox would not be specific about the identity or number of candidates for the post, officially known as deputy director in charge of mental health services. But he made it clear that the lengthy selection process is designed to ensure that the mental health system for indigents ends up in the hands of someone who can pull it out of its crisis.

“I have got to pick the right racehorse,” Cox said. “A detailed curriculum vitae and resume and interview are not sufficient unto themselves to make sure I’m getting someone who can hit the ground running.”

Leadership Found Lacking

The previous mental health director, Kathy Wachter-Poyner, had been criticized as unable to handle the complexities of administering an overloaded, underfunded system. Wachter-Poyner resigned in November after seven years in the post.

In a November report, a task force of the San Diego County Medical Society noted that the county mental health administration “has over the last decade lacked leadership and demonstrated a poor overall understanding of clinical problems and systems. There has been a lack of functional lines of accountable authority.”

Despite its budget of $47.7 million this year, the county mental health system simply cannot care for the number of indigent people who need long-term care. Often, people who are clearly ill but who are not in any immediate danger to themselves or others must be sent back onto the streets.

Funding Cuts Necessary

Although the county is suing the state for what it calls a fairer share of state-allocated beds for the mentally ill, the new mental health director still will have to make tough recommendations on how to solve the funding problems. That means cutting back in some areas to do a better job in others, Cox said.

“We cannot continue to do all things for all people,” he said.

Cox’s concerns about finding the right person also led to the application deadline being extended twice this year after initial applications arrived. Candidates--who were screened by a community panel of mental health professionals--needed strong clinical and management experience in the mental health field, Cox said.

“The initial stable did not meet the criteria,” he said.

He noted that after setting the selection criteria, he had stayed out of the process until now “to keep it completely clean.” But Cox said he did unsuccessfully encourage applications by some people he thought would be qualified.

“I had several people in mind, but they weren’t interested in applying because they had long-term commitments,” he said.