Juneau’s hospital closes its crisis care unit less than a year after opening it

Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Aurora Behavioral Health Center opened its doors to teen situation attraction patients connected Dec. 18, 2023. (Katie Anastas/KTOO)

A programme designed to connection contiguous attraction to adolescents successful situation astatine Juneau’s city-owned infirmary closed earlier this period aft opening 8 months ago.

In an interview, Bartlett Regional Hospital spokesperson Erin Hardin said nan closure is owed to a deficiency of backing and staff. 

“There is nary dedicated subsidy backing available, and we don’t person nan unit to support nan portion open,” she said. “So knowing some of those factors, nan determination was made to adjacent that peculiar program.”

This comes arsenic nan infirmary faces a major fund crisis. Its committee of board is seeking financial thief for a fistful of services it says are draining money. The situation stabilization work was 1 of those programs and was expected to suffer $1.2 cardinal adjacent year.

The infirmary only started offering nan work past December after nan caller Aurora Behavioral Health Center was completed. It was built specifically to location nan programme and nan hospital’s psychiatric services program.

At nan clip of its opening, the crisis stabilization unit was seen arsenic a groundbreaking work to thief younker successful Juneau — and crossed Southeast Alaska — get nan intelligence wellness and constituent usage attraction they need.

According to information from nan state, suicide was nan starring origin of decease for Alaska Native younker aged 10 to 19 and each younker aged 10 to 14 successful 2020. It was nan 2nd starring origin of decease that twelvemonth for Alaskans aged 15 to 34.

Aaron Surma, nan executive head of nan National Alliance connected Mental Illness Juneau, said that nan request for situation services successful Juneau is high, and nan closure will beryllium devastating for nan group who request it nan most.

“People aren’t going to get what they request — and that has each kinds of antagonistic reverberations. And I deliberation you tin tie immoderate easy parallels to immoderate different tragedies that person happened successful our community,” he said. “So group are going to struggle more, and it’s very difficult to unrecorded successful situation and beryllium successful.”

Surma said that, successful nan absence of capable situation attraction services successful Juneau, it’s captious that group study really to support 1 another’s intelligence health.

“I want and dream to thief group go much comfortable supporting 1 another’s intelligence wellness because I deliberation individuals tin beryllium much reliable than systems and services,” he said.

Hardin said group successful situation tin still person attraction astatine Bartlett. But they will get it from nan hospital’s emergency section alternatively than nan situation center. She said nan hospital’s committee continues to look for different much financially sustainable ways to connection situation attraction successful nan future.

The Aurora building will proceed to stay unfastened and location outpatient psychiatric services. Hardin said nan information of nan building that housed nan situation programme will apt beryllium repurposed for different infirmary programs.