A legislative audit in Utah sought to answer whether the state has enough behavioral health beds to meet demand but discovered a fundamental problem: no one could answer that question. Madison Hoover, an audit supervisor with the Office of the Legislative Auditor General, told the Legislative Management Committee that there is no single entity responsible for collecting information from all various facilities across the state—including between private and public sectors—so no comprehensive information exists on how many beds exist, how often they’re available, or where capacity falls short.
The audit report declared “Utah does not know its behavioral health bed needs.” To address this, auditors recommended creating a statewide bed registry and designating a “central authority” to coordinate the system. Hoover emphasized: “This lack of information is really important, because behavioral health beds are the mechanism that allow patients to move through the system. And when patients can’t access the appropriate level of care, congestion builds, and those ripple effects are seen across the continuum.”
What Data Exists
Auditors attempted to contact all 600 facilities across the state offering some type of behavioral health services but could only obtain information from some. The resulting dashboard shows based on available information that Salt Lake County has at least 2,623 behavioral health beds, Utah County has 1,460, Davis County has 336, Weber County has 262, and Washington County has 390.
Audit manager Leah Blevins said the dashboard isn’t updated in real time, but it demonstrates the importance of having this information for hospitals and policymakers. “The word on the street is there’s not enough beds, and we’re not questioning that,” she stated. “But we don’t have the data to back that up.”
Recommendations
Rather than immediately calling to add more beds, auditors recommend understanding the system first. Without systemwide visibility of capacity, availability, and demand, Utah will make decisions with “significant blind spots.” Eric Tadehara, director of the DHHS office of Substance Use and Mental Health, acknowledged: “From a general perspective, I think we know that we are short on beds. But I think the level of bed is going to be where it’s hard to quantify.”
The Behavioral Health Commission is described as “a great first step,” though the state lacks a final decision-maker. Deputy director Tonya Hales suggested the DHHS is “in a really good position to be a central authority,” though she noted the agency currently lacks ability to engage with the private sector. The Legislative Management Committee referred the audit to the Health and Human Services interim committee for further review.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.lexingtonchronicle.com/premium/stories/is-utah-short-behavioral-health-beds-word-on-the-street-is-yes-but-audit-says-state-lacks,175291