Alaska’s Lack of Psychiatric Beds and Consequences

• Main Author: Cravez, Pamela
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage 2017
• Subjects: Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API); correctional inmates; mental health; Anchorage; Fairbanks; Alaska; Alaska Justice Forum
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7683

This updates the article which appears on pp. 5–8 of the Summer 2017 print edition. Patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies referred to Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) in Anchorage must frequently must wait four to six days before being admitted. API, with 80 beds, is the state’s sole psychiatric hospital and provider of inpatient services. Two additional Designated Evaluation and Treatment (DET) hospitals — Fairbanks Memorial Hospital (20 beds) and Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital (12 beds) — provide care for acute psychiatric emergencies. According to a recent privatization report there is no infrastructure in Alaska to support longer, more complex intervention as a routine form of inpatient treatment. This has not always been the case. This article traces the history of Alaska mental health policy and discusses the consequences of the lack of capacity to treat mental illness in the community, including growing numbers entering the corrections system. [Introduction] API is Full / API: High Admission Rates, Short Stays / Full-Service Hospital / Downsizing / New Admissions Policy / Fewer Hospital Beds, More Prison Beds / More Beds and Fewer on Horizon / References // SIDEBAR: Mental Health Problems High Among Inmates, Especially Females