County health director: crisis-mapping report offers a template; recommends funding and data follow-up

The Wallowa County Department of Community Health presented a crisis-mapping report that maps behavioral-health response capacity across dispatch, facility-based care and upstream social supports. The presenter said the deliverable is a template that identifies gaps and next steps rather than a finished operational plan.

Lede: Don Shareen, Department of Community Health, briefed commissioners Feb. 18 on a crisis-mapping project that maps the county’s behavioral-health response and recommends steps including pursuit of HB 1590 0.1% tax revenue for capital investments, expansion of urgent-care capacity, and better data sharing from behavioral-health contracting agencies.

Nut graf: The mapping team praised the CARES community paramedic program and the Blue Mountain Health Cooperative behavioral-health urgent care, called for expanded walk-in hours and capacity, and noted missing data from some managed-care and BHASO contracts that hindered final recommendations. The mapping team recommended exploring HB 1590 revenue as a capital funding tool and pursuing available commerce grants to support facility costs.

Key points - Praise for community paramedic (CARES): The report gave high marks to the CARES community paramedic service; the presenter said county 0.1% funding has been critical after Providence stopped funding its share.

- Facility-based options: The team recommended expanded Behavioral Health Urgent Care (BHUC) capacity (Blue Mountain Health Cooperative) and consideration of emergency psychiatric facilities (EMPATH) with capital support potentially using HB 1590 0.1% revenues and commerce grants for capital costs.

- Data gaps: The mapping team reported it did not receive full contract or emergency-department utilization data from all parties (notably some BHASO-to-state reporting and the HCA contract data), a shortfall the presenter called out for follow-up.

- Legislative note: Presenters and commissioners referenced House Bill 1813 (state-level legislation under consideration) that would alter behavioral-health funding flows by shifting more funding to regional authorities; the presenter suggested the county monitor that bill for implications.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to follow up on the missing data requests, continue to build capacity around urgent-care alternatives and monitor HB 1813 and related funding opportunities; the mapping report will inform future planning and grant applications.