Page 1 of 3
Regular Session, 2012 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 79
BY SENATOR MURRAY AND REPRESENTATI VE LEGER
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request that the hospitals and behavioral health treatment facilities in the
parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard report to the president
of the Louisiana Senate, the speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, the
Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the House of Representatives Committee
on Health and Welfare, and the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children
certain information regarding the quantity of behavioral health treatment, including
both mental illness and substance abuse, sought in the four parishes during specific
time frames.
WHEREAS, the citizens of Louisiana in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson,
Plaquemines, and St. Bernard who require inpatient care for behavioral health issues,
including mental illness and substance abuse, particularly when experiencing an initial acute
crisis and during any follow-up inpatient treatment are facing substantial reductions in the
access to inpatient beds available as a result of reductions in funding to various agencies of
the state, particularly the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and its affiliated
hospitals and clinics in the four-parish area; and
WHEREAS, it is expected that the funding reductions proposed in the 2012-2013
Fiscal Year budget will cause the elimination of available mental health and substance abuse
inpatient beds and related behavioral health treatment services which will adversely affect
the citizens in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard; and
WHEREAS, these reductions in patient care dollars from the state will impose
hardships on municipalities and parish governments in dealing with citizens with mental
health and substance abuse issues on the streets rather than in appropriate inpatient facilities;
and
WHEREAS, the reduction in funding for treating those with behavioral health issues SCR NO. 79 ENROLLED
Page 2 of 3
will further stress limited local response mechanisms, services, and supports, including local
emergency services which have been unduly burdened since 2005 in the aftermath of
hurricanes Katrina and Rita; and
WHEREAS, it is feared that the safety of the general population will be placed at
greater risk as a result of the scarcity of treatment options for those with mental health and
substance abuse issues.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
request that each licensed hospital and behavioral health treatment facility in the parishes of
Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard monitor the inflow and outflow of patients
seeking behavioral health treatment, both mental health and substance abuse, in emergency
rooms.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each licensed hospital and behavioral health
treatment facility in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard monitor
the number of hours, to the nearest quarter hour, the duration of inpatient treatment for
patients in need of inpatient or residential care for behavioral health, both mental health or
substance abuse, treatment in acute psychiatric units and licensed substance abuse treatment
facilities for those in need of inpatient or residential care.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each licensed hospital and behavioral health
treatment facility in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard monitor
the average length of stay in these facilities for those seeking treatment in acute psychiatric
units and licensed substance abuse facilities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each licensed hospital and behavioral health
treatment facility in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard monitor
the number of citizens who seek treatment for mental health or substance abuse issues
outside the city of New Orleans and the distance traveled from home by each patient seeking
such services.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each licensed hospital and behavioral health
treatment facility in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard monitor
their hospitalization and substance abuse facility rates per patient per day and prepare a
monthly compilation of those costs. SCR NO. 79 ENROLLED
Page 3 of 3
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each licensed hospital and behavioral health
treatment facility in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard report
all these findings monthly in an easy-to-follow report to be issued by way of both electronic
mail and United States mail to the following:
(1) The president of the Louisiana Senate and the speaker of the Louisiana
House of Representatives.
(2) The respective chairmen of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare
and the House Committee on Health and Welfare to be distributed to all committee
members.
(3) The chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Women and Children.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a comprehensive report, reporting on the period
from the time of the adoption of this Resolution through December 31, 2012, be delivered
to all the above no later than March 1, 2013.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such reporting shall continue throughout the
2012-2013 Fiscal Year and be compiled in a comprehensive report of the numbers from both
2012 and 2013 and presented to the above by February 1, 2014.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Department of Health and Hospitals to notify all licensed hospitals and behavioral health
treatment facilities, including those for both mental illness and substance abuse treatment
in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard; to the president of the
Louisiana Senate, the speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives; the chairmen of
the Senate and House committees on health and welfare; and the chairman of the Senate
Select Committee on Women and Children.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES