Doctors protest behavioral health cuts

I agree with Dr. McGuire!! Please consult those that work directly with the mentally ill and see what they have to say. Being someone who is treated myself for a disorder and on a limited income I can tell you that traveling 50 miles round trip is a lot to ask, but I know that I would make it happen, however there are those worse off than me that couldn't or wouldn't, or simply might not even be able to because of their illness. I think that mental illness isn't taken as seriously because you can not see it. If someone has a broken arm you can see the cast and realize they have a broken arm they are hurt, if someone has depression or agoraphobia you can't see it and don't understand that the person is broken or hurt.
I wish that there would be compassion, understanding and thought put into these issues. To totally remove all care from a town is unreasonable at best.

With the nursing shortage and the lack of doctor time, why layoof a FNP? The intelligent move would be to layoff the higher salaried assistant director (there are three) and keep the employee that treats clients and brings in $5 per minute.

We have allowed ourselves to become a Mecca for Homeless from across the state. Many have mental health issues, but come here for the free food / shelter / and generally kind public. So guess what? Our Police Officer's spend dozens of hours responding to reported 5150 subjects. Then they get to tranport them to Enloe for the mandatory medical evaluation. Our Behavioral Health department either cant or wont respond promptly in most cases. So, since these folks can be violent, our cops end up babysitting at Enloe instead of being out on the streets looking for bad guys and such.

If we as Chico citizens are going to remain so pro-transient, we had better fund the police and behavior health. 5150's have already exceeded the available resources, while Chico is becoming Santa Cruz North.

Which is more expensive, mental health clinics or the daily cost of someone in jail? If mental health can't keep these people under wraps, then they WILL end up in the Butte County Gray-Bar housing unit.

I dont know about this place being a homeless Mecca. I have been to Santa Cruz,Monterey, San Diego and San Fransisco. they are all there too. I think it is a state wide problem. It's not as bad as other cities but it will get worse.

You can count on it getting worse. There aren't enough caring, compassionate professionals now to serve the current mental health needs of our community. Laying off 54 people and contracting out isn't going to help. Mental illness is going to get worse during these tough economic times, you would think that the governator would put a little thought behind the budget, rather than making across the board cuts. Mental health, fire, police, etc., these services can't afford to be cut. I think we need to re-evaluate our priorities and decide what's really important to support in this day and age. I, for one, believe Mental Health is a priority because it affects every other system. If we adequately treat mental illness people are able to work and contribute to society. Untreated mental illness can lead to drug abuse, crime, homelessness, joblessness, abuse, etc. We can't just blame behavioral health though, the board of supervisors are supporting this budget, despite the fact that many people have asked them to reconsider the current proposed cuts.