For years, San Diegans with Medi-Cal insurance who desperately want to address their addictions have struggled to access detox beds.
The situation hasn’t improved years into the fentanyl epidemic or in the months before the county is set to implement a conservatorship expansion law expected to put more pressure on the system.
Our Lisa Halverstadt wanted to know: What’s the county doing about this? The county’s behavioral health director and other stakeholders told her they are hustling to try to add more beds.
The county now has just 78 detox beds at its disposal for Medi-Cal patients but plans to add more in the next couple years, including 21 additional beds operated by Interfaith Community Services in Escondido by early next year.
Nonprofits Father Joe’s Villages and Genesis Recovery say they’re also separately working to raise money to open new detox programs in East Village and Dulzura, respectively. Both hope to open new programs early next year.
In the meantime: Homeless and low-income San Diegans who want to stop using can rarely access detox beds on demand even as regional leaders prepare for the January implementation of SB 43, which will make people with severe substance use disorder eligible for involuntary holds.
More Behavioral Health News
San Diego County will receive $12.4 million to open 49 recuperative care beds for homeless San Diegans with behavioral health conditions.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the county was among the latest recipients of state Behavioral Health Bridge Housing funding.
In a release, the county wrote that the new beds would be in an unspecified county facility and in community-based operations with county contracts. The county’s behavioral health director noted that the new beds would help the county as it implements conservatorship expansion and changes tied to Proposition 1, which increases a key behavioral health funding source’s focus on addressing homelessness and substance use disorder.
“These recuperative care beds, co-located with substance use disorder treatment, will improve access to care for those in greatest need,” County Behavioral Health Services Director Luke Bergmann said.
The county did not immediately say when it expects the new beds to open.
Reminder: Halverstadt has previously reported on challenges facing existing recuperative care programs and thus for the people who could benefit from those services as they leave local hospitals.
Also: A joint study by researchers at UC San Diego and Mexico’s Colegio de la Frontera Norte indicate fentanyl use may be driving an increase in the hepatitis C virus among those who inject the drug. The team found fentanyl use was associated with a 64 percent increase in the likelihood of contracting hepatitis C.
Though the virus is most commonly spread by blood, researchers found there was a relationship between those who just smoked fentanyl and hepatitis C as well. Part of the reason for this close relationship, researchers theorized, is because the short half life of fentanyl means users dose more frequently.
The researchers suggest governments make both fentanyl test kits and point-of-care hepatitis C tests more widely available.
City Council Unanimously Renews Shelter Crisis
The San Diego City Council voted 8-0 Tuesday to reaffirm an ongoing city shelter crisis declaration.
City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, who proposed a more expansive emergency declaration last week, said he decided to proceed after hearing feedback from city staff that the ongoing declarations have been helpful. He also expressed interest in pursuing future actions after hearing from Sarah Jarman, director of the city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department, that municipal code changes to ease procurement requirements could help the city more quickly deliver shelter at a time when it’s facing the impending loss of hundreds of beds.
“My commitment is to making sure that we have every possible tool available to the mayor, to the council and to the city to address homelessness because we are in a state of emergency,” Elo-Rivera said.
Councilmembers Joe LaCava and Stephen Whitburn also spoke in support of the renewed declaration.
Changes to San Diego’s Ethics Commission Hitting the Ballot Box
San Diego City Councilmembers on Monday unanimously voted to put a ballot measure that would strengthen the commission in charge of overseeing local election, campaign and lobbying issues. If voters approve the measure, local elected officials would no longer be able to eliminate the Ethics Commission and would be required to fully fund it. The measure would also empower commissioners to choose their leader rather than elected officials and give them the ability to develop policies around how it goes about its investigations.
The changes are a long time coming. The commission, created in 2001, can take action against current former city-elected officials as well as candidates for office. But it’s been viewed by many as not having the independence or funding needed to perform effectively. That’s why City Attorney Mara Elliott pushed for changes to the way it does business.
But the measure doesn’t do everything she’d hoped. One key reform she’d initially proposed was changing who selects commissioners. Currently the City Attorney and City Council select a group of candidates the Mayor then chooses from. Elliott had proposed a three-judge panel appoint members, freeing the commission from being selected by the very people it’s tasked with overseeing.
But after the City Council’s Rules Committee rejected the proposal, Elliott left it out of the ballot measure. Still, she said, she hopes that change will be implemented in the future.
Song of the Week
Thee Sacred Souls, “Lucid Girl”: The first single from the Thee Sacred Souls’ forthcoming sophomore album “Got a Story To Tell” maintains all of the transcendent charm of the band’s debut. Josh Lane’s intoxicating vocals are still the star of the show. But bandmates Salvador Samano and Alejandro Garcia know just how to build the warm, inviting canvas to best complement them. Read more about the song of the week here.
Like what you hear? Check out Thee Sacred Souls at the Endless Sunsets festival in Waterfront Park on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists!
In Other News
- More than 150 San Diego firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer over the past decade because of cancer causing agents in their workplaces. Research shows that some of the gear firefighters wear contain substances known as “forever chemicals,” that may be linked to the high numbers of cancer diagnoses. (CBS 8)
- San Ysidro’s Casa Familiar has proposed developing a multipurpose center that will shield people from climate events like heat waves, house a community garden and also teach them sustainability techniques like farming and how to improve air quality. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Yet another death at the troubled Veterans Village housing and treatment center triggered a call for immediate corrective action from county officials. (inewsource)
- About 34 percent of homes for sale in San Diego have seen recent price cuts, signaling that the region’s red-hot housing market may be cooling down. (Axios)
- The President of San Diego’s women’s professional soccer team, the Wave, has filed a lawsuit alleging a former employee defamed her. (New York Times)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.