Human Services will create bed-tracker for mental health beds, Iowa leaders say

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Iowa Department of Human Services plans to create an electronic database of inpatient psychiatric beds, relieving the problem of hospitals calling across the state for beds as patients wait.

This was according to Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who, with Gov. Terry Branstad, met with The Gazette's Editorial Board Tuesday.

Human Services Director Charles Palmer 'is looking at having a bed-tracker in place,” Reynolds said. 'With technology today, there's no reason we shouldn't put that in place.”

Iowa has a bed-tracking system for disasters, such as tornadoes and floods, but no way to easily determine what beds are open for mentally ill Iowans in crisis, The Gazette reported Feb. 28. A 2013 study showed the disaster database could be adapted for about $120,000 a year. A new system would cost $200,000 to create and $25,000 a year to maintain, the report states.

Angela Gullickson, of Decorah, waited nine hours in the Winneshiek Medical Center last August with her now 8-year-old son, Noah, after his mental illness caused him to try to injure her.

Hospital officials say its normal to call eight or nine hospitals across the state before finding one with an available bed. Law enforcement agencies, charged with transporting mentally ill Iowans who are a risk to themselves or others, regularly drive patients five or six hours away to receive treatment.

Branstad acknowledged resistance to his plan to close two of Iowa's four mental health institutes.

'People hate change, but they love progress,” he said.

Iowa will add more beds for adult psychiatric patients at the Independence Mental Health Institute to make up for the planned closures of institutes at Mount Pleasant and Clarinda this summer, Branstad said.

School funding, start date

On K-12 education funding, Branstad said he knows superintendents want unrestricted funding, but he wants to funnel the money into his Teacher Leadership and Compensation System, which pays teachers more for taking on additional duties and leadership. House Republicans would give K-12 schools $100 million in supplemental aid, while Senate Democrats say at least $200 million is needed to maintain the status quo.

Branstad, who wants K-12 schools to start no earlier than Sept. 1, said he's willing to compromise. But he hinted at a veto for a school start date before Aug. 23.

'The date they've talked about is Aug. 24. That's something we could live with,” Branstad said. 'It's not going to start before the 23rd of August.”

MARIJUANA

With marijuana becoming legal in Washington, D.C., and laws moving forward in New Mexico, The Gazette asked Branstad whether he saw Iowa following suit in coming years. Branstad signed a bill last year allowing families to buy cannabis oil extract to reduce the effects of seizures on their children.

But Branstad said he's wary of going further - even for medical uses.

'Just because something is popular, doesn't mean it's the right thing,” he said. 'Has the medical research been done on this? We need to be careful about giving people false hope on something that doesn't work.”