Now that Recovery International has been chosen to provide crisis services for the Bridge Center for Hope, board chair Kathy Kliebert says contract negotiations with the international firm will begin within the next two weeks.
The board is waiting to see whether Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, the other bidder for the 5-year contract, will protest being passed for the project. Negotiations could also start sooner should the board receive a written letter from OLOL stating they don’t intend to protest.
It’ll be unlikely if Recovery International will receive the full $6 million a year that’s available, Kliebert says, because the Bridge Center still needs money for administration and legal expenses. They’re also waiting to see how much money will come from Medicaid reimbursements.
The final contract will have to be OK’d by the Metro Council. Kliebert’s goal is to have the contract in place for Oct. 1.
As far as selecting a location for the center, Kliebert says vacant space at the Baton Rouge General Mid City campus remains the front runner, though a final decision won’t be made until Recovery International gives its opinion.
“Baton Rouge General has always been the primary spot looked at, and (Recovery International) know that’s a possibility,” Kliebert says. “It will be dependent on what the provider sees. They know what they need based on work done in other states.”
Before the mental health property tax was approved last December, Kliebert had said the Bridge Center could open as early as this summer. That timeline was shifted, she says, earlier this year when the board began considering renovations and hiring an outside provider.
“To have our timeline in sight, as far as making a selection and making renovations, the board is very excited at this point,” Kliebert says. “We’re really confident in this provider.”
The center is expected to begin hiring in January, with an opening date now tentatively set for March 2020. Nearly 130 employees will be hired to work at the center, according to Recovery International’s proposal presented to the board. Daily Report filed a records request this morning for a copy of the proposal but it had yet to be provided prior to this afternoon’s deadline.
