Palomar Well being introduced Thursday that it intends to shut its solely inpatient behavioral well being unit on June 30. He stated the transfer is meant to “enable the well being system to focus assets” on constructing a brand new 120-bed psychological well being hospital on the Palomar Escondido Medical Heart campus.
To deal with the each day want for psychological well being remedy of interior North County sufferers in locked psychiatric items, Palomar stated he negotiated an settlement with Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital in Serra Mesa, about 18 miles south and west of the Palomar Medical Heart Poway, the place the 12-bed unit now operates.
In a quick assertion despatched Thursday afternoon, Sharp HealthCare confirmed the deal and stated its Mesa Vista facility on the campus of its flagship Sharp Memorial Hospital has the capability to deal with Palomar's anticipated improve in referrals. He stated “inflow is anticipated to vary between six and 9 sufferers per day.”
Mixed with Tri-Metropolis Medical Heart's closure of its 16 inpatient psychological well being beds in 2018, the transfer is a short-term blow to the provision of acute psychological well being providers in North County. A brand new 16-bed, single-story psychological well being hospital on the Tri-Metropolis campus broke floor in October 2022, and officers indicated they thought the mission would open in 2023, however the mission continues to be underneath development.
Dr. Gene Ma, Tri-Metropolis's CEO, stated Thursday afternoon that development is anticipated to be full in July and the brand new facility will probably open within the fall.
Luke Bergmann, the county's director of behavioral well being providers, didn’t reply Thursday when requested what impact he anticipates the introduced closure of the Palomar psychological well being unit could have on the general community of look after these with acute inpatient remedy wants. .
Palomar noticed a direct improve in demand for psychological well being care, particularly in its Escondido emergency division, after the closure of Tri-Metropolis in Oceanside, nevertheless it itself steadily decreased providers with the sale of the unique Palomar Medical Heart within the downtown Escondido. Even after many of the hospital's operations have been moved throughout city to the brand new Palomar Medical Heart Escondido on Citricado Parkway, the outdated constructing continued to deal with and function Palomar's 22-bed psychiatric unit.
That asset was closed when the previous advanced was offered in 2020, and Palomar transformed an current geriatric psychiatric unit at its Poway hospital into the present 12-bed basic psychiatric unit.
Palomar has stated it intends to construct a state-of-the-art 120-bed psychological well being facility on its Escondido campus. In 2022 he estimated the constructing may very well be operational in 2024. That turned out to be optimistic. Palomar's assertion Thursday stated the ability has not but damaged floor however is “scheduled” to achieve that milestone in Might.
Palomar has different psychological well being care amenities. In 2020, the well being system opened a disaster stabilization heart at Palomar Medical Heart with a simultaneous remedy capability of as much as 16 sufferers. Nevertheless, that useful resource doesn’t serve the identical function as a locked inpatient unit. Sufferers can keep as much as 24 hours, however are housed in recliners somewhat than beds.
Whereas it's clear that interior North County residents who require hospital-level psychological well being care should journey farther to get it, Palomar's assertion Thursday offered the change as a constructive.
“Palomar Well being will proceed to supply medical providers to help the Disaster Stabilization Unit whereas working with Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital to take care of applicable inpatient and outpatient care,” Palomar's assertion stated. “By combining assets and experience till the brand new behavioral constructing is accomplished, Palomar Well being and Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital are ready to supply unparalleled behavioral healthcare providers to the San Diego group.”
The assertion didn’t specify how closing Palomar's 12-bed unit in Poway would enable it to focus assets on constructing the brand new psychological well being hospital in Escondido.