New Long-Term Mental Health Care Facility OKd

A new 80-bed mental health facility described as the “missing piece” in the county’s mental health system was approved unanimously Tuesday by county supervisors.

For Howard Black, the hourlong commutes to see his son, Brian, 38, who has schizophrenia, at a Pomona mental health clinic have been a tedious reminder of the lack of a long-term care facility in Orange County.

“This project is a missing piece of the puzzle,” Black told supervisors in support of the project. “This has been a long-standing need for the county.”

The county plans to enter a 20-year lease-purchase agreement with Royale Health Care Center Inc. in Santa Ana for the 53,000-square-foot facility on 4.9 acres in Mission Viejo. The county will pay utilities, maintenance and repair costs, insurance premiums, taxes and monthly rent of $58,229.

At the end of the 20-year term, the county will be able to buy the facility for $100.

The total cost for services is estimated at $33 million through 2003, which includes costs for an existing Royale facility in Santa Ana. The county’s Health Care Agency will pay for 83% of services with state funds and the remainder with tobacco settlement funds.

The new facility is needed to help reduce the 274 beds the county contracts for at out-of-county mental health facilities. Of the 80 new beds in Mission Viejo, 65 will be designated for long-term care, while 15 will be for mentally ill people who require a shorter-term program.

“Adding the new beds will be a significant health enhancement,” said Jon Gilwee, a spokesman for the Healthcare Assn. of Southern California, a hospital trade group in Orange County that supports the county’s partnership with Royale.

The project marks the first time that some of the $28 million in tobacco funds the county received this year will go toward health needs. A political tug-of-war about how the funds should be used ended with the November passage of Measure H, which requires most of the funds to be used for health care.

A majority of the Board of Supervisors had wanted the funds to go toward debt reduction and new jails.

In 1996, state health officials fined Royale $10,000 after attendants subdued a patient by wrapping a towel around his head. The patient, who had lashed out at a nurse, died in the struggle. Royale ultimately paid $6,500.

A Health Care Agency spokeswoman said that Royale has subsequently passed program reviews by the state and county.