The Wyoming Senate has approved a bill that would reform how the state handles people involuntarily hospitalized due to mental health issues.
Health Care professionals say the current system doesn’t treat people properly and is underfunded. Senator Ray Peterson of Cowley said the bill requires that every county will now have a “gatekeeper” charged with overseeing a patient’s treatment. He said the gatekeeper will see that the patient gets adequate care and that dollars spent on treatment are being used wisely.
“We are not using outpatient treatment which is in the bill, we are automatically sending them to hospitalization which is the most expensive, so the money that would come for a lot of this effort would come from the savings realized from the gatekeeper aspect, the outpatient treatment centers, and things like that.”
Peterson said the gatekeepers will also work closely with Judges. This bill would also allow those judges to order mandatory outpatient care. Critics say the bill lacks adequate funding. It now goes to the House for further debate.