COUNTYWIDE : Hospitals’ Fees to Support Crisis Team

Ventura County officials will charge four private psychiatric hospitals to support the county’s new 24-hour mobile psychiatric crisis team.

The crisis unit, revived last month after an eight-year hiatus, responds to calls from residents and police much like a paramedic team. They are trained to handle crises such as suicide attempts or disturbances involving the mentally ill.

Under the fee schedule approved by the supervisors, the hospitals will pay a $20,400 annual fee to receive patients. They also will pay a $4,000 annual fee to cover the county’s cost of a yearly license review.

The hospitals would be expected to provide $750,000 worth of bed space and treatment annually for poor and elderly patients referred by the county, according to proposed agreements between the county and the hospitals.

The county’s crisis team was eliminated eight years ago because of budget cuts prompted by Proposition 13. Without the team, patients were treated by psychiatric specialists at the county’s mental health center near the Ventura County Medical Center. But most patients were transported to the facility by police or relatives.

The mobile unit was revived this year partly at the urging of police who have limited training in dealing with mentally ill people. The team, composed of 21 mental health professionals, frees police to respond to other calls.

The $1 million to operate the team comes primarily from state funds, except for the fees to be charged hospitals.

The hospitals are Vista del Mar Hospital in Ventura, Pacific Shores Hospital in Oxnard, Simi Valley Adventist Hospital and Charter Hospital of Thousand Oaks.