Commissioner warns state plan to shift psychiatric patients to counties risks shortfalls in local services

A Coos County commissioner raised strong objections to proposed state contract language that would require counties to accept overflow patients from the state hospital without the existing clause "subject to availability of funds." The commissioner said the change—pursued by the Oregon Health Authority and the governor's office, and encouraged by the Department of Justice—would require counties to provide services they currently lack funding and capacity to deliver.

"They want us to take the overflow from the state hospital into facilities that we obviously don't have," the commissioner said during the meeting, adding that the county's mental-health system is already overburdened. The commissioner said the state hospital has "about 700 beds" and cited a study the speaker said recommended an additional 3,000 beds.

The speaker described a growing statewide resistance, saying 24 of 36 counties initially said they would refuse to sign the revised contract and that number had grown to about 30 counties at the time of the meeting. The commissioner said some state officials attempted to negotiate directly with certain counties to secure signatures.

The commissioner urged public attention to the issue and described having publicized the dispute through county associations and regional media to bring pressure on state leaders. The speaker warned that if counties are required to accept hospital overflow without corresponding funding, local communities may see an increase in homelessness and visible behavioral-health crises because counties lack the facilities and resources the state would be mandating.

The remarks were delivered as general comments by a commissioner near the end of the meeting; no board action was taken on the matter during this session.