The Baton Rouge Area Foundation has hired an Atlanta-based consulting firm to write a business and implementation plan for a behavioral health crisis center in East Baton Rouge Parish. Health Management Associates has been retained to deliver a report by December that recommends services, governance and funding for the treatment center.
For more than a year, BRAF has been working with local officials and behavioral health experts to develop a Recovery and Empowerment Center that would serve as a diversion program to help keep the mentally ill out of jail, where they often end up.
Earlier this year, an economist hired by BRAF estimated the parish would save $3 million in the first year alone and nearly $55 million over a decade.
HMA is no stranger to the Baton Rouge market. The firm, which specializes in health system restructuring, health care program development, and health economics and finance, is currently working for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and LSU Health Sciences System to create an integrated delivery system.
The work is being underwritten by David’s Fund, which was established at BRAF by Bill O’Quin in honor of his son.
David O’Quin, a schizophrenic, was picked up by local police during a breakdown in February 2013. Thirteen days later he died in prison. Had there been a treatment center, David’s death could have been prevented.
—Stephanie Riegel
