Lisa Dailey, executive director, Treatment Advocacy Center, left, andVirginia A. Caine, M.D. Director & Chief Medical Officer, Marion County Public Health Dept. | TAC.org / Marionhealth.org
Lisa Dailey, executive director, Treatment Advocacy Center, left, andVirginia A. Caine, M.D. Director & Chief Medical Officer, Marion County Public Health Dept. | TAC.org / Marionhealth.org
Marion County, Ind. has been designated a “Mental Health Professional Shortage Area” (MHPSA).
That’s according to an analysis of data released by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
A MHPSA designation uses data on mental health care provider counts and resident counts.The count includes psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors.
The designation identifies areas that do not meet the provider-to-resident ratio.
The recommended minimum state psychiatric beds is “40 to 60 beds per 100,000 population,” according to a Jan. 2024 report from the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC).
Indiana is ranked 18th among the 50 states in beds per 100,000 population, according to the TAC, with a number well below the recommended minimum.
“In the first half of 2023, Indiana had 815 state hospital beds for adults,” reported the TAC. “This puts Indiana at 11.9 beds per 100,000 population.”
Founded in 1998, the TAC is a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va., that focuses on mental health policy and research related to serious mental illness.
“Historically, psychiatric bed availability in the U.S. has declined significantly due to deinstitutionalization,” reported the TAC. “In 1955, the country had 340 psychiatric beds per 100,000 people. By 2016, that number had fallen to 11.7 per 100,000, leaving many individuals with severe mental illness without adequate inpatient care options.”
All 92 Indiana counties were designated as either full or partial MHPSAs, according to HRSA. Lake County is the only county in the state of which only part of the county is considered a shortage area.
Is your county a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area?
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