Representatives of the primary mental health clinic in Wasatch County said their office is understaffed and has a 12-month waitlist.
A therapist and administrator at Wasatch Behavioral Health told the Wasatch County Council he and his colleagues are struggling to keep up with a recent spike in demand. It’s one of the only mental health resources available in Wasatch County, assisting people with an array of conditions, ranging from mental and emotional struggles to psychological crisis.
“We’re very short handed,” said Chad Shubin of the Wasatch Behavioral Health Heber City office. “We currently have three therapists in the office and probably could fill five or six positions. Recruitment has been a big problem.”
He said since the pandemic began, the number of people calling to make appointments for mental health sessions has increased drastically. Before COVID-19, the waitlist could keep patients waiting to see a therapist for about a month. Now, they have to wait a year.
The clinic is looking to the county for help staffing two new full-time therapists. County manager Dustin Grabau proposed using money from the American Rescue Plan to help.
The American Rescue Plan Act ordered stimulus funds to be sent to states, cities and counties for economic and public health relief from the pandemic.
Grabau proposed giving the clinic $20,000 this year and $125,000 each year from 2023 to 2025. If the council approves, the budget change could become official as early as October.
The Heber office sees eight patients a day and holds an after-hours group session Monday through Friday. Other outreach it provides reaches schools, the county jail, drug court and more.
Shubin said the funding would contribute to the clinic’s salary base to help bring in new therapists and keep the ones it has already. He said this has proven challenging recently, especially as local living costs have risen recently.
“That would only fill it part time,” he said. “We would be able to fill [the schedule] from about 8 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. It’s intended to be a 24-hour model, so that would just be the beginning.”
Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby was at the meeting and asked to speak on the matter.
He told the council his office and the Heber City Police Department have been getting about 25% more calls than usual from “suicidal subjects” during the pandemic, an increase from four to six of such calls a month to about eight.
“They truly are overworked in a time when there’s a lot of mental health concerns and crisis,” the sheriff said. “People really, really need help, whether it’s at their house or we’re taking them somewhere. [Shubin and his colleagues] have really stepped up. I can see that they do good work, and the needs that they have are real, and that they’re prolonged openings, and I really do think, at least from an outsider’s opinion, that it is wage based.”
told the council via video call that the uptick in mental health needs is happening all over the state.
“Across the state, we are seeing an increase in demands on our services,” CEO of Wasatch Behavioral Health Juergen Korbanka told the council via video call. “The statewide crisis line has experienced more than a 25% increase in the last 18 months in terms of volume of calls. We are certainly experiencing an increase in our demands of service down here in Utah County, and most, if not all, of my counterparts, too.”
Councilman Danny Goode asked Korbanka if the increase could be attributed to the recent population increase locally. Korbanka said while that change is likely one factor, the overall demand increase has been “above and beyond” the population growth rate.
At Councilman Steve Farrell’s request, Grabau clarified that if for some reason the county does not receive the American Rescue Plan funds it’s been promised, the funds must come from the county general fund.
