SUPERVISOR FLETCHER TO HOST CLARK COUNTY NEVADA ELECTED OFFICIALS TO SEE SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S SUCCESSFUL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAMS

03/01/23

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher will take Clark County Nevada Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Justin Jones and about 30 other officials and staff on a tour of the County of San Diego’s reimagined behavioral health system this Friday, March 3.

“San Diego County’s behavioral health system was underfunded and not prioritized by the Board of Supervisors when I arrived in 2019, and I made it my highest priority to build a better way to deliver mental health and addiction treatment services,” said Supervisor Fletcher. “Since then we have fundamentally changed our approach and invested more, which has started to deliver some results. We are far from being where we want it to be, but I am pleased leaders from Clark County, San Francisco, and elsewhere are taking notice and want to learn more.”

Clark County, like many other regions across the country, is facing a growing need for additional behavioral health resources. Clark County is the regional provider for behavioral and mental health services and the safety net for residents who live in the Las Vegas area, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and the unincorporated parts of the region.

“I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to see first-hand how San Diego County has developed, implemented, and funded a patient-centered care system for behavioral health,” said Clark County Commission Vice Chair Justin Jones. “In Clark County, the need for behavioral health resources has grown, especially as so many struggled through the pandemic without access to care, and we are focused on identifying innovative, outcome-driven solutions to the challenges that face us.”

Tour attendees from Nevada will also include other Clark County Commissioners; City of Las Vegas Councilmembers; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; Clark County Social Services; Clark County Fire Department; University Medical Center of Southern Nevada; and Nevada Health and Bioscience Corp.

The tour will begin Friday with an early morning presentation at the County Administration Center by Supervisor Fletcher and Dr. Luke Bergmann, Director of San Diego County’s Behavioral Health Department. The group will then travel to:

the new Oceanside Crisis Stabilization Unit and visit with one of the County’s Mobile Crisis Response Team contractors;

they will then make a stop at the County’s soon-to-be central regional behavioral health hub to be located at Alvarado Hospital; and

the new 22 bed Community Harm Reduction Safe Haven operated by Episcopal Community Services.

As part of the tour, there will also be a discussion of the County’s $100 million opioid settlement framework, and plans for implementing Governor Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court.

Local attendees also scheduled to attend the tour include Representative Scott Peters; State Senator Catherine Blakespear; key staff for Representative Mike Levin and Juan Vargas; key staff for U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein; key staff for California State Senator Steve Padilla; key staff for Assembly members Tasha Boerner-Horvath, Akilah Weber, Chris Ward and the California State Association of Counties.

Supervisor Fletcher has made improving behavioral health his highest policy priority, and some of the policies he has introduced and passed around this topic include:

Establish a Regional Behavioral Health Hub (2019)
Establish Behavioral Health Impact Fund 1.0 (2020)
Agreement between County of San Diego & Rady Children’s Hospital on Behavioral Health Hub for Children and Youth (2020)
Creating Countywide Mobile Crisis Response Teams & Education Campaign (2020 & 2021)
Saving Lives and Improving Health Outcomes with Comprehensive Harm Reduction (2021)
San Diego County Opioid Settlement Framework (2022)
Establish the Behavioral Health Impact Fund 2.0 (2022)
Establish CARE Court in San Diego County (2022)
Addressing the Behavioral Health Worker Shortage in San Diego County (2022)
Establish the Interfaith Behavioral Health Workforce Center of Excellence (2023)