Mahaska Health Partnership in Oskaloosa, Iowa, has closed down its inpatient psychiatric unit, reports The Des Moines Register.
The hospital officially closed the eight-bed unit Monday, CEO Jay Christensen told the publication. The unit primarily treated older adults with mental health issues and was losing $500,000 annually, according to the CEO. Mr. Christensen partially attributed the unit's financial issues to extended patient stays, resulting from the refusal of residential facilities to accept psychiatric patients. He said once patients were stabilized, insurers would not continue paying for care, which means the hospital is on the hook for those costs, according to the report.
"Their perspective is, if you're admitting them, it should be for a certain number of days, and that doesn't always work with this population," he said.
Iowa as a state has lost numerous inpatient psychiatric beds in recent years, according to the report. For instance, Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in 2015 announced plans to close mental hospitals in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda. Services provided at those hospitals were moved to the Cherokee and Independence communities, the report states.
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