County leaders press Metrocare for rapid fixes after cash-flow shortfalls

Dallas County officials used the June 16 meeting to flag mounting financial strain at Metrocare — the county’s largest behavioral-health services provider — and to demand near-term management steps to stabilize operations.

Officials said successive audits flagged similar problems and that recent capital projects and service expansion produced a timing mismatch between capital inflows and day-to-day operating costs. A county official summarized the problem as a mismatch rather than deliberate fraud: "They took on a huge capital project… and at the same time they expanded some of their operations," the official said, adding that operational dollars had been used to bridge capital spending.

Commissioners and county auditors said the result had left Metrocare effectively operating "from check to check" in cash-flow terms, and they asked Metrocare’s interim leadership to present a tighter, financially viable plan. Judge Jenkins stressed the need to "finish the fight" operationally and financially; the court has asked Metrocare and its interim CFO to provide a focused update to the court before the next session and to pursue further cost reductions and revenue-mix changes.

The court did not authorize county bailouts at the meeting; instead, commissioners pushed Metrocare’s board and interim management to find deeper operating savings and present an abbreviated plan within weeks. County staff said there remain capital infusions and reimbursement sources available, but that Metrocare must align services to revenue and may need to make difficult program-level choices to preserve core services.

Next steps: county staff and the board will meet with Metrocare leadership to identify targeted cuts and to assess whether short-term cash infusions are required to normalize operations; the court requested a status briefing before the next commissioners court date.