Western Montana Mental Health Center has announced the closure of Lake House, a facility in Polson that provides stabilization for patients undergoing mental health crises.

According to Devin Huntley, chief operating officer for Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, the closure was unfortunate, but unsurprising.

“We’ve been anticipating this for some time,” he said Monday.

An upswing in mental health issues nationwide, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and an increase in staffing shortages have caused turmoil across the U.S.

Western Montana Mental Health Center launched its community-based mental health crisis stabilization effort more than a decade ago. The Polson facility was built in cooperation with Lake County, which contributed resources for design and construction.

In addition to closing Lake House, the organization also is closing inpatient programs in Gallatin and Butte-Silver Bow counties but will continue to offer those services in Missoula and Hamilton. According to Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker, who is on the mental health center's board, the closures translate into the loss of 35 positions.

“There just weren’t enough referrals for crisis stabilization to keep the program afloat,” he said. “Lake House has eight beds and often had none of them filled.”

Decker said Lake House opened shortly before he joined the commission in 2012. The county put an estimated $500,000 toward design and construction from jail diversion grants and made an annual contribution of $40,000 after it opened to help support staffing costs.

"It was our belief that we would save at least that much by not having to transport people in a mental health crisis to Warm Springs," he said.

After about five years, the payment was discontinued.

"I think there is still a need for those services but trying to provide beds that are secure is the problem," he added.

Decker expects the center will come up with a plan to repurpose Lake House.

Huntley said he met with the center's leadership about a year ago, and knew they were having staffing issues. He recalls being told: “We can’t fill every bed, not because there’s a lack of need or demand, we just don’t have the supply of caregivers we need to take care of everybody over there.”

“I think it’s going to be felt far and wide for sure,” Huntley said, noting that the facility has offered inpatient care to people from the Mission Valley and beyond.

“Regardless of circumstance, any loss of a mental health service is a loss to the state of Montana and its residents,” said Levi Anderson, the center's CEO, in a press release.

Lake House is located across the street from Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, which made it convenient for patients arriving at the emergency department in crisis and willing to seek inpatient care.

“They did great work for us,” Huntley said. “It was a wonderful resource and a great collaborative environment.”

With the doors now closed, local health care providers must look farther afield for inpatient crisis management. For patients who need that level of care, it now means a trip to Missoula, Kalispell, Helena, or further. That shift could make it more expensive and the additional distance from family and friends could deter patients from getting the help they need.

In a press release, Anderson blamed the closure in part on significant increases in costs and inadequate Medicaid reimbursement. He said the closure of the three facilities will help the mental health center provide services to a broader range of patients and “pivot into expanding residential programming that focuses on supporting Montanans with an ongoing and significant need for residential supports.”

While the Legislature is trying to address the problem of inadequate reimbursement for mental health services, they still haven’t agreed to pony up 100% of the cost.

"The problem for mental health providers like Western is there is no way to make up the gap in funding," Decker said.

“My concern is that Western is the only provider left in western Montana,” he added. “Services are already limited and may become more scarce in the future.”

Huntley views the closure as emblematic of health-care issues facing the nation. “It’s just something we’re seeing across America,” he said. While the medical center is almost fully staffed now, chronic staffing and supply shortages paired with long work hours have taken a toll on the industry.

Plus, with the recent advent of telemedicine, more health-care providers are opting to work from home.

“In lot of ways, the ways we provide care have been turned upside down,” he said. “That’s not necessarily bad – it’s just different and we’re all learning how to deal with it.”