BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT - A. YAMAMOTO

Approve contract renewal with Traditions Behavioral Health for Psychiatry Services for the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, in an amount not to exceed $456,352.00.

SBC FILE NUMBER: 810

Traditions Behavioral Health (TBH) is a contract provider for psychiatry, M.D. services for the County Behavioral Health Department. TBH is the largest provider of psychiatry services to institutional and community-based mental health programs in California. TBH is known for its recruitment and placement of high quality psychiatrists.  Also, unlike most psychiatry placement agencies that rotate psychiatrist placements, lasting sometimes for only several months or even a few weeks at a clinic site, TBH will place the psychiatrist at a clinic on a long term basis. A placement can last for multiple years and TBH will provide a backup psychiatrist to fill any interim void between long term placements. Many county mental health departments in the Bay Area and other parts of the state utilize the services of TBH. Retaining the services of TBH adds to our ability to ensure ongoing psychiatry coverage in a time of psychiatry resource scarcity. The Behavioral Health Department’s TBH placed Psychiatrist has been here for several years already and provides 40 hours per week of medication support services.

The continued the volume of clients requiring psychiatric care and also outpatient medication services continues to increase and we also hear  the same concerns from other Counties, so the maximization of Psychiatry resource time is a necessity in to serve all psych. medication service requests. The TBH contract is paid through MHSA funds, MediCal revenue generation, and already existing realignment funds designated for the purchase of psychiatry services and to a small degree private insurance payment.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:  Individuals receiving mental health services who are at the County Jail and Juvenile Hall receive psychiatric medication support services through the Behavioral Health Department.

1)  Approve the contract renewal with Traditions Behavioral Health for the contract term of  FY 2019-20 in an amount not to exceed $456,352.00 and; 

2)  Authorize the Board Chair to sign said contract