PHOENIX (AZFamily) — It’s been two months since the state health department shut down St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center following an investigation after the A/C broke down.
The closure of the 127-bed hospital has left patients and their families with fewer treatment options in a space that advocates say already has limited resources.
Sharon Barnes says the closure has been devastating for her family and has created a big issue with no quick fix. She says there’s a severe lack of hospital beds in the Valley for those with serious mental illnesses, and now the only way her daughter can get her court-ordered treatment is if she gets so sick that she becomes violent or severely disconnected from reality.
“We just don’t have any options, and that’s a problem,” said Barnes.
Barnes says her daughter, Baillie, is one of the nearly 100 patients who had to be transferred out of St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center in August after the A/C stopped working.
The state health department then shut the Phoenix facility down after uncovering a slew of safety violations.
“They couldn’t send her back to a hospital like she needed because there was no where to send her,” said Barnes.
Since then, Barnes says she’s been forced to make a difficult choice: take her daughter in and do her best to care for her or allow her to live on the streets.
She says Baillie struggles with bipolar disorder.
“Anybody with a non-mental illness, we would be finding a way to help them. We aren’t finding those ways and those beds are now gone,” said Barnes.
Steward Health Care owns St. Luke’s, and the company filed for bankruptcy in May. More than 200 employees were furloughed after the state suspended its license this summer.
HonorHealth took over operations at other Steward hospitals in Arizona, but the future of the behavioral health center remains up in the air.
“So a system that was already at the breaking point is now completely broken,” said Barnes.
Barnes agrees that St. Luke’s had problems, but she says closing it without a way to continue critical mental health care was the wrong move.
“St. Luke’s needed to stay open and we needed to address the issues at St. Luke’s,” she said. “We didn’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater and that’s what we did.”
ADHS released this statement to Arizona’s Family:
“For the latest information regarding St. Luke’s Behavioral Health hospital’s license, please visit AZCareCheck.com.
ADHS’ goal in taking any enforcement action is to bring the facilities we license into compliance with health and safety standards. We are continuing to work with Steward Health Care during their bankruptcy proceedings to ensure that if / when St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Hospital reopens, it will be an appropriate environment for patient care.
Since the operations at St. Luke’s ceased, we have continued to monitor the situation closely in partnership with AHCCCS. At this time we have yet to see an indication that there is a lack of access to behavioral health beds within a hospital setting. It is our priority to make sure all Arizonans have access to healthcare to suit their physical, mental and emotional needs.
No-cost mental health support is always available by calling the Arizona Statewide Crisis Hotline at 1-844-534-HOPE (4673) or the national suicide prevention hotline (9-8-8).
The department does not have information regarding Steward Healthcare’s business decisions. Please reach out to them for comment.”
Steward Health Care did not respond to our request for an update on if the facility will ever re-open.
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