County commission may award triage center contract

The Doña Ana County Commission could vote as early as July 14 on a proposal to operate the crisis triage center (CTC), County Commission Chair Lynn Ellins said as he concluded a July 1 special meeting.

During the meeting, held in commission chambers at the Doña Ana County Government Cener, with some speakers participating via Zoom, the commission heard public input about a proposed business plan to operate the CTC that was submitted by Recovery Innovations International (RI), a Phoenix-based nonprofit that offers behavioral health services in crisis, health, recovery and consulting, according to the corporate website.

The commission could choose to award the management contract to RI without following the normal state procurement process because it is “such a specialized search,” county Health and Human Services Director Jamie Michael said. Michael said the county has worked with several management companies since CTC was built in 2013, but none of the contracts proved viable.

County Manager Fernando Macias said the critical first step “to get the CTC up and operating” is for the county to have a licensed facility and operator. Currently, Macias said, the state’s only functioning triage center is in Bernalillo County. He said Santa Fe and Grant counties are licensed for facilities but don’t have them.

Once Doña Ana County has a licensed CTC, Macias said, it can begin to discuss what services the center would provide, including a mobile crisis unit, for which Commissioners Shannon Reynolds and Manuel Sanchez expressed support during the special meeting.

“We need to get a license to get started,” Commissioner Isabella Solis said.

“Right now, we need to establish that triage center,” said Commissioner Ramon Gonzalez. “The mobile will come next. First thing first, let’s address the triage center.

The CTC business plan under consideration “talks about continuum of care,” Sanchez said, and that should include a mobile crisis unit to provide service “to the county as a whole.”

“We may be forced to implement something like a mobile crisis unit to meet the needs that we have,” Reynolds said. The unit, he said, could provide “the right services at the point where these situations occur.”

Awarding a contract to RI would exclude local companies from consideration, said former county treasurer Mary Martinez White, who is retired from the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, where she served as statewide magistrate DWI drug court coordinator.

Las Cruces attorney Peter Goodman also said he has “concerns about the process” and whether the county is legally entitled to go forward without issuing an RFP.

Speaking by phone, state Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Doña Ana, said she doesn’t favor a sole-source contract and said the county should issue an RPF for CTC management. “I don’t trust another company from out of state,” Ferrary said.

David Velasquez of iNetMed Rx² Inc., a clinical psychology, psychiatric services and behavioral medicine management company in Las Cruces, said awarding the contract to RI is favoritism.

“I think the business plan (proposed by RI) falls short,” said Dr. Jo Velasquez, also of iNetMed. Dr. Velasquez said she also has concerns about CTC staffing and costs under the proposed plan. “It’s just unrealistic in so many ways,” she said.

Vasquez told a May Zoom meeting of the LC3 behavioral health collaborative that iNetMed is working with City of Las Cruces officials on a plan to address mental illness in Las Cruces.

 Micah Pearson, a member of the board of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), said RI represents the “industry standard,” and was asked to put together the CTC business plan “based on work they’ve already done.” He said NAMI locally and nationally support the plan. “It covers the needs of the clientele,” Pearson said, “and “goes into treating the crisis of the moment, which is what we asked them to do.”

"One indicator of a thriving community is the ability to meet its members’ behavioral health crises needs through teamwork, trust and sustainability,” LC3 behavioral health collaborative Co-Chair John Burch said in an email. The CTC has the potential to meet these needs for Doña Ana County and it reflects our renewed commitment toward behavioral health crisis care.”

“I think the plan is adequate,” said Dr. Ernest Flores of Las Cruces. But Flores said RI’s proposed operational costs “sound high,” and he stressed the need for hiring local residents as CTC staff.

RI Vice President for Western Region Mental Health Systems and System Development Wayne Lindstrom said RI has a reputation for being transparent and trustworthy.

La Clinica de Familia Chief Health Officer Jaime Olivas said the RI business plan “can close some gaps in services. The need is great.”