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New Hampshire Hospital, Glencliff officials report staffing gaps, discharge barriers and concerns about Philbrook sale
Summary
New Hampshire Hospital said the state’s reduction in emergency-department wait queues is progress but the hospital still faces 70–100 patients who are medically ready for discharge but lack placements; Glencliff’s census has fallen to about 65 and the house added limited funding for personnel.
Ellen LaPointe, CEO of New Hampshire Hospital (which also supports Glencliff Home), and Brett Mason, CFO, briefed the committee on operations and personnel at both state facilities.
Glencliff Home: LaPointe said Glencliff’s census is about 65 residents (the facility has been higher historically, near 120 in prior years) and that the home focuses on patients who require specialized, residential nursing and behavioral supports. She said roughly 84% of Glencliff’s budget is personnel. The governor’s budget included unfunded positions; the House added $486,000 to partially cover personnel needs at Glencliff, the directors said (the house language reallocated funds originally in the prescription drug affordability account to partially cover Glencliff needs). LaPointe said Glencliff has sought to ensure residents meet the facility’s level-of-care criteria and to reinforce community-based options where appropriate.
New Hampshire Hospital: LaPointe described improvements in the statewide emergency-department queue for psychiatric patients, noting the hospital has reached zero waiting days at times and average waiting times have fallen. At the same time, she said New Hampshire Hospital frequently has 70–100 patients who are clinically ready for discharge but lack suitable community placements; the hospital’s capacity is 185 beds. LaPointe said that lack of community placement causes uncompensated care and affects hospital throughput.
Philbrook Building and transitional housing: Senators raised the House provision that would put $5,000,000 on the surplus statement for the sale of the Philbrook (Philbrick) Center, which currently provides 16 transitional mental-health housing beds and other staff space used by the hospital. LaPointe said the Philbrook building was not intended as a permanent residential setting; NFI (a provider) has been working to site alternative transitional placements and the department would seek contingencies to assure transitional beds continue to be available if the property sale proceeds. Committee members asked whether a sale should be conditioned on replacement placements; LaPointe said ensuring continuity of placements would be a priority.
Ending: Senators requested follow-up on census trends, the status of transitional housing procurement and how personnel currently in Philbrook would be relocated if the property is sold. LaPointe and Mason said they would work with the department to provide further details and timelines as the budget and any sale proposal advance.
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