LOUISIANA Community Mental Health Services Block Grant ...

Reports from Regions/ LGEs indicate struggles with keeping qualified clinical staff. Recruitment
efforts have included using interns and residents from nursing and medical schools, contacting medical
recruitment agencies, advertisements in professional journals, and newspapers. To fill the gaps in
prescribers, some regions have successfully contracted with non-physician prescribers, specifically,
Medical Psychologists and/or Nurse Practitioners. Others have used locum tenens physicians.
Reports from the field indicate that due to budget cuts dictated by the recent legislative sessions, the
workforce has been reduced. Job positions are being combined to try to compensate for the budget
conditions without lessening the impact on quality centered patient care. In Region 5, the loss of 7 full
time positions and several job vacancies have affected all areas of direct service. There is a serious
effect on the numbers of clients seen, the length of time from first contact to psychiatric evaluation,
medication management, and counseling; and there is a serious shortage of community resources to fill
the service gaps.
PART C LOUISIANA FY 2011 PAGE 268
SECTION III: ADULT & CHILD/ YOUTH PLAN – CRITERION 5
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS – RESOURCES, STAFFING, TRAINING OF PROVIDERS