There was an interesting story in Friday’s Baton Rouge Advocate that correctly identified the problem of a growing backlog for mental health treatment for persons accused of a crime but who are deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. You can read that story here:
It’s a legitimate problem, no doubt. But the burning question, besides the problem of how are nearly 200 of these people going to receive the treatment they so desperately need, is how did we get to the current situation of having only a single forensic psychiatric facility in the state of Louisiana?
For that answer, we have Bobby Jindal to thank.
The LSU Reveille said on APRIL 16, 2015, as Jindal’s eight years in the governor’s office were winding down (and as he pursued his silly quest for the Republican presidential nomination), that his legacy “leaves out the mentally ill.” The article cited a report by the American Mental Health Counselors Association that said that in 2014, there were 18,400 mentally ill Louisianians who went without treatment.
Jindal and the Republican legislators, the article said, “trapped them within a health care coverage gap when they refused the program’s expansion.”
But going back to 2012, when Jindal was just beginning his second term, he CLOSED the Greenwell Springs Hospital which had been serving as a mental health facility. The closure was done in the name of budgetary cutbacks and cost savings.
That was in March 2012. Four months later, in July, it was announced that SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA HOSPITAL, a psychiatric facility that became somewhat famous as a stopping-off place for then-Gov. Earl Long during his 1959 historic, if not hysterical, mental breakdown, would be SHUTTING DOWN. That closure denied care for 176 patients who had to go elsewhere for treatment.
To no one’s surprise (except perhaps to Jindal, who was most likely oblivious and/or uncaring) a totally predictable SPIKE in the demand for mental health services occurred as those seeking treatment found there was no room available for them as one treatment center after another shuttered its doors as a direct result of the Jindal budget cuts.
Of course, Jindal attempted to shift the blame by DENYING that his administration requested any specific cuts to mental health or substance abuse programs at LSU Interim Hospital but the fact is $150 million was slashed from the facility’s budget, necessitating cuts. The closures of Southeast and Greenwell Springs that followed that February 2012 denial belied any pious posturing on Jindal’s part.
Oh, he attempted to mitigate the damage by privatizing Southeast but like everything Jindal touched, that, too, proved disastrous to mental health patients when the facility, operating under the new name Northlake Behavioral Health System, lost its Medicare eligibility just nine months into its operation as a private hospital because of serious deficiencies.
That information came courtesy of a LouisianaVoice POST way back in July 2013. We tried to tell you what he was doing 10 years ago, yet here we are.
So, as for yesterday’s ominous revelations by The Advocate about the shortage of beds for those needing mental health treatment notwithstanding, it’s not like we weren’t warned ahead of time.
All the red flags were there for us to see but the state was apparently too infatuated with Bobby Jindal to fully comprehend what he was doing to this state. We felt the effects on mental health care then and we’re feeling them now, in spades.
And all the signs are indicating that we are in for more of the same for at least the next four years.
Quite frankly, I don’t see the likelihood that the new Republican administration of Jeff Landry will place a high priority on the needs of the mentally ill – especially those accused of crimes.
It’s just not in the cards for this cadre to exhibit compassion for anyone but those who can help the party with their checkbooks. They would much rather attack such hot – but safe – issues as libraries and some abstract issue they call woke.
It’s ironic that every time there’s a mass shooting, Republicans deflect the blame away from the easy access to guns by proclaiming in unison that the shootings are a mental health problem. Yet, guns and mental illness are conjoined issues the GOP consistently refuses to address.
Louisiana Voice 
My family and countless other families are on the “losing” side of Bobby Jindal’s reckless handling of mental health in this state. Specifically a grandson who waited 12 months for access to the facility in Jackson. California proposes to make it MANDATORY for persons with mental health problems be treated. Theoretically, they have the infrastructure (mental health facilities) to handle the influx.
As you have pointed out, Jindal systematically closed not only mental health facilities BUT dismantled the Charity Hospital system where the poorest of the poor were seen. Perhaps if the Republican big donors were interested, maybe none of this would have happened. Wouldn’t it be great if the Republicans ACTUALLY followed the percepts of the Bible instead of talking about the parts they want to talk about and dismantling the word of God?
As you, I, and others who were awake at the time said, we will never stop paying for his administration.
The situation is so bad that we had to go to VA to get an accurate diagnosis for our daughter. We utilized hospitals in VA, TN, and FLA. There is NOTHING in Louisiana for children who suffer from mental illness!
Jindal – as well as those who came before and followed after – was only expressing a core “Republican” belief: government has no vested interest in the welfare of its people, nor do the people have any obligation to each other. Unless, of course, we’re talking about the obligation to censor other people’s reading material.
I agree with Mr. Spillman and Mr. Winham. I admit my ignorance about the term egomania, but it appears that our new Speaker of the House needs to consult with his mentor Woody Jenkins to understand mental illness. Woody preached that his Mother’s mental illness was cured by chiropractors. They both had disabled fathers and my Congress person, Mrs. Letlow, prays with Speaker Johnson about Praising God. I am not an atheist . love always ron thompson
As a now retired Civil Service employee, I am enraged at Jindal every time I have a health insurance claim. I worked at a much lower salary than the private sector would have paid after college graduation. One main reason for that choice was great health insurance, which was managed with no problems and at a lower cost by OGB. I don’t know how costly mental health treatment is, but I imagine it is even worse than my physical issues. I wish nothing but the worst for Jindal after he lives in the wealth provided by the BCBS political contributions. He’ll eventually meet our creator at the pearly gates and I have faith that he’ll be reminded how he’s already basked in heavenly wealth at the cost of all Civil Service employees while we suffered and scraped our savings to attempt to obtain healthcare. My heart goes out to everyone needing mental medical care.
I agree that Jindal did immeasurable damage to mental health services here in Louisiana. But we also have to acknowledge that we had 8 years of John Bell Edward’s and he never fixed the problem either. We’re still stuck with potentially hundreds of thousands of people who are basically on their own, especially now that Medicaid coverage is being pulled back as well. Its both parties at the end of the day. They just don’t seem to care for the people very much. They would rather send our money overseas and help every other country in the world than actually try to make life better for their own people. I really think it’s time to throw all the crooks out and try a new, younger party with more inspired ideas about making America a wonderful place to live again, especially for our future generations.
You make valid points and it is truly a disgrace that we don’t do more for those in need of mental heath facilities. And it often seems that Democrats and Republicans alike have lost touch with their constituents. They live in a bubble, insulated from the problems we face on a daily basis.
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