Officials pitch county mental hospital From the cover
Patient to mental health provider ratio in Brazoria County
The background
While Brazoria County’s mental health provider-to-patient ratio has decreased over time, the county’s ratio of 940 patients per provider is almost 47% higher than the Texas average of 640 patients per provider.
From 2010 to 2020, Brazoria County’s population more than doubled, partially contributing to a higher number of people reporting mental health crises, according to the Pearland chamber’s report. Johnson said he believes police departments and hospitals in the county are facing an urgent challenge as the number of mental health and substance use cases continues to rise, threatening to overwhelm their resources and capabilities. “Without proper mental health facilities, the burden lies on our emergency rooms and our law enforcement,” he said. “Though they are great at that, it puts pressure on those areas.” In 2023, there were 164,086 psychiatric outpatient service visits in Brazoria County—a 29.4% increase over five years—and the number is expected to grow by nearly 50% over the next decade, according to the report. Companies such as Community Health Network, which is a system of health networks providing care in Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties, are trying to combat the trend. CHN is adding more staff and service lines each year to its crisis team, said Ezreal Garcia, vice president of government affairs and public relations. These local realities mirror statewide trends, which show that reported depression and mood disorders jumped by 29% from 2018 to 2023, and anxiety disorder visits surged by 80%, the report shows. The coalition also hopes to expand outpatient care in Brazoria County, per the chamber’s website. “As much as an inpatient crisis center will benefit our residents and businesses in Brazoria County, there are other solutions that we are working on to ensure that we not only have the inpatient care, but the outpatient and the preventive care for those mental health [patients],” Johnson said.
State:
Counties:
Texas
Brazoria
Ford Bend Harris
Galveston
8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000
6,169
940
0 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
SOURCE: PEARLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Health care service sites in the area include primary care, dental and mental health. All of Brazoria County is designated as a mental health professional shortage area. Outside of the northern part of the county, which consists mostly of Pearland, the majority of the county is classified as a primary care health professional shortage area as well. Health care service site Health care service sites by county
GALVESTON BAY
Harris
Fort Bend
Galveston
Brazoria
Wharton
GULF OF MEXICO
Matagorda
MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCE: PEARLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Another point of view
for his city, which grew 41% in the past five years, according to U.S. Census data released in December. However, a lack of services paired with that growth is causing many to have to look outside the county for help in areas related to mental health, Davis said. A hospital, he said, would fill a “much-needed gap in our region’s health care system.” “A local facility would not only benefit Manvel but also ensure that individuals throughout Bra- zoria County can get the help they need closer to home,” Davis said.
Because SUN Behavioral Health offers inpa- tient care, medical professionals are on-site 24/7 to support patients experiencing a mental health crisis or substance abuse disorder with around- the-clock care, which outpatient care is not equipped to do, Kalina said. “I grew up in Brazoria County, and the reason I got into this business is because there were no resources,” Kalina said. “So now it’s great to be able to bring those resources.” The growth of the county, as well as cities within it, is also spurring more need, data shows. Manvel Mayor Dan Davis said this remains true
Since October 2023, Gulf Coast Center has partnered with SUN Behavioral Health Houston, a psychiatric hospital in Houston with 148 beds. The hospital has reserved 18 beds for patients without health insurance from the Gulf Coast region, which includes Brazoria County, said Mikki Kalina, director of business development at SUN Behavioral Health Houston. Between April and November, Kalina estimated that SUN Behavioral Health Houston admitted around 500 patients from the Gulf Coast Region, although not all those patients used the reserved beds if they had health insurance.
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