According to a county staff report, Summit County’s behavioral and mental health services serve residents who have public sector insurance, such as Medicaid. It also helps run the county’s drug court, which rehabilitates nonviolent offenders.
The county’s contract with its care provider, the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah, was set to expire at the end of the year. But the council will be able to approve a new contract at its meeting.
Summit County Health Director Phil Bondurant called renegotiations, which started in August 2023, a “long, arduous process.”
“Big kudos to Aaron Newman for leading and guiding that. Myself, Councilmember Roger Armstrong and Council Chair Malena Stevens spent quite a bit of time with the University of Utah representatives getting that figured out. That was no small feat,” he said at the Dec. 2 county health board meeting. “But in the end, the desire to provide mental health services at the highest level possible in Summit County prevailed, and we are in a really good spot.”
Part of what made negotiations difficult is the University of Utah had been operating at a deficit when it came to patients covered under the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The county staff report says the high cost of operating in Summit County and low DHHS reimbursement created a gap of between $1.2 million and $2 million annually.
Under the new contract, the county will help offset that deficit going forward at an estimated annual cost of $800,000.
Summit County has also taken over behavioral and mental health care for schools, where demand has remained high post-COVID.
The Summit County Council is expected to discuss the contract in more detail during its meeting Wednesday at about 5:15 p.m.
