UC San Diego Health has ended negotiations with San Diego County to develop a behavioral health hub at its East Campus Medical Center, a 302-bed facility.
The academic health system was in negotiations with the country for more than six months and said it is "profoundly disappointed" the organizations could not finalize the nearly $32 million behavioral health deal, according to a statement shared with Becker's.
The proposed partnership would have added 30 psychiatric inpatient beds for adult Medi-Cal patients to the county's portfolio as well as a potential crisis stabilization unit.
Despite the breakdown in talks, UC San Diego Health said it remains committed to expanding psychiatric services and still plans to centralize its behavioral health services at East Campus Medical Center. The hospital has 30 acute psychiatric inpatient beds staffed by a team of more than 45 providers.
"UC San Diego Health will continue to operate emergency psychiatric and hospital-based consult-liaison services at its Hillcrest and La Jolla campuses," the system said in a statement. "East Campus Medical Center will eventually serve as the location for psychiatric care navigation once planned renovations are completed."
UC San Diego Health said it provides $692 million in annual uncompensated care to the community, but the cost of its inpatient psychiatric services is under-reimbursed by more than 35%.
"UC San Diego Health remains hopeful and open to future partnership opportunities to expand critical psychiatric services. Partnerships with community, state and federal agencies are essential to protect and care for these vulnerable populations," according to the health system.