Dallas County‘s largest behavioral health provider, Metrocare, is in a severe financial crisis with a 7 million dollar deficit and needs up to 14 million dollars to stay afloat
County Judge Clay Jenkins wants Parkland Health System to take over Metrocare’s finances and merge operations to boost local mental health capacity
Commissioner John Wiley Price opposes a Parkland takeover and argues that Metrocare must scale back its services to focus solely on its intellectual disability specialty
DALLAS – Dallas County’s largest provider of behavioral health care, Metrocare, is managing intellectual disability and primary care services for veterans and families who need some care of their own
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Urgent financial care and Parkland Health System may be the answer
Dallas County mental health provider faces severe deficit
What we know
Board members at Parkland and Metrocare are considering the possibility of going forward in a way where the two come together, with Parkland treating Metrocare’s business model, while Metrocare continues its mental health work.
Dallas County commissioner John Wiley Price says an influx of money won’t save them, and that Metrocare has got to make major changes
The behavioral health provider is in financial distress while operating revenue deficit is more than $7 million a year to date. June operating expenses are 19% below expectations with little to no cash flow on hand
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Estimates for Metrocare need $10 to 14 million right now just to keep going, but that is not the financial fix needed. Dallas County Commissioner, John Wiley Price, says an influx of money won’t save the mental health provider, and that Metrocare has got to make major changes
Dallas County behavioral health care
What they’re saying
Price says other mental health treatment should be turned over to the North Texas behavioral health authority, and let that group contract with others in the community to provide that mental health care
“There are a lot of issues here and the infusion of cash does not clear the debt,” said Price
“They need to re-organize, they need to reorganize and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to deal with intellectual disability and whatever percentage of their 55,000 population,’ that is whether it’s 15 to 20 percent, 30 percent, doesn’t matter. That needs to be their specialty.”
Could Parkland Health System take over Metrocare?
Dig deeper
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins acknowledges the financial stress Metrocare is under but sees a way where Parkland Health System can come alongside Metrocare and benefit from a partnership as well.
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“There’s clearly a financial crisis for Metrocare right now, but I believe there’s also an opportunity for the patients at Metrocare, 55,000 people,” he said. “For those patients to have a great experience and for Parkland to get much-needed mental health capacity, so it would be good for both patient populations. So, I’m asking those two to look at potentially an affiliation agreement.”
Judge Jenkins continued by saying,”I think what John and I would agree on is if Metrocare continues with the same management, then they are not going to succeed. Right?”
What’s next
The difference is that Judge Jenkins thinks the answer is Parkland’s management over Metrocare’s finances, and Metrocare continues as it is. Price agrees Metrocare needs new management, but not Parkland, and he says they need to scale back to their primary purpose of treating the symptoms of intellectual disability
The Source
Information in this article was provided from interviews conducted by FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb
