Healthcare advocates in favor of privatizing^[1] services to the mentally ill in the District of Columbia are doing so because the move will save money. Union reps for the District’s public municipal services disagree, citing the potential for undertreatment and outright negligence of DC’s most vulnerable of the lot.

Union leaders who represent some employees said the transition is risky. They said city counselors provide care to the most difficult cases, people with deep psychiatric troubles. Those patients have developed a trust with their counselors and are less likely to make the transition to a private care provider, they said.

In addition, union leaders said, about 200 workers would lose their jobs in the midst of a recession. They probably would seek work in the private sector, where pay is lower and job turnover is higher, the leaders said. 

LINK

1. Privatizing may have unintended consequences. It could lead to the fragmentation of treatment services by eliminating interdisciplinary teams and interagency programs, for example. [↩]

Related Posts Within Doctor Pundit:

1. Nursing Homes Shouldering Greater Numbers of Younger Mentally Ill Residents Recently, the murder of a nursing home resident in Minnesota...
2. Popular Motion Picture Spotlights Community Dwelling Adult Mentally Ill The movie The Soloist, starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and...
3. President Uses Weekly Address to Renew Call for Efficient Reform Bill Passage It’s a little hard to tell if President Obama is...
4. Minnesota’s Largest Acute Care Safety Net Announces Cuts in Care Delivery So much of what happens to safety-net healthcare delivery really...
5. Under Reform, New Laws to Increase Access to Mental Health Care Services about to Take Effect It is well known that in the pre-reform era of...