Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health Mental Health Needs

The number of mental illness cases has increased in Riverside County while treatment care facilities and funding have not kept up with the demand. Mental health care providers and experts recommend that there be one acute care mental health bed per 2,000 people. According to California Hospital Association Center for Behavioral Health, California has 6,610 acute care mental health beds. With a population of 39,144,818, California has one acute care mental health bed per 5,922 people. Riverside County, by contrast, has a population of 2,423,266 people as of 2017 (U.S. Census Bureau) with a total of 365 acute care mental health beds (California Hospital Association Center for 3 Behavioral Health). This puts Riverside County at one acute care bed per 6,567 people – which is a larger disparity than the State. At the recommended rate of one bed per 2,000 people, Riverside County should have available 1,211 acute care mental health beds. Considering Riverside County has a total of 365 such beds, including the 77 County beds at Arlington Campus and 288 privately- contracted beds, which makes the County needing approximately 846 beds. Insufficient Staffing

The RUHS-BH utilizes locum tenens contracts to hire private psychiatrists to fill vacant authorized, and budgeted staff psychiatrist positions (currently 60 of the 140 positions remain unfilled). It was determined that Riverside County salaries and benefits are not competitive to neighboring counties and the private sector. A major concern centers on trying to keep clinicians from departing the County for employment in other counties or private industry.