{"id":543239,"date":"2026-03-17T22:36:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543239\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:36:33","slug":"as-mental-health-crisis-grows-legal-skirmish-around-treatment-persists-in-orange-county-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543239\/","title":{"rendered":"As mental health crisis grows, legal skirmish around treatment persists in Orange County \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walk through the structures at the newest Be Well OC mental health campus, on the south edge of the Great Park in Irvine, and you\u2019ll get a blast of \u201cnew building smell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paint is fresh and the walls unmarked. The mattresses, covered in crib-thick synthetics, are neatly arranged with even surfaces The windows are clean enough that birds might smack into them.<\/p>\n

After two years of construction, the county\u2019s second Be Well campus, complete with upbeat splashes of art and gleaming kitchen equipment and self-harm-resistant door handles, is ready to start helping people with severe mental illness or substance abuse disorders or both.<\/p>\n

Yet opening day at Be Well Irvine isn\u2019t on anybody\u2019s calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t say because we don\u2019t know\u201d when the campus will open, said Phil Franks, chief executive of Mind OC, the Irvine-based nonprofit that operates as Be Well OC<\/a> and oversaw construction of the Great Park project and is managing a similar Be Well operation in Orange.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could be helping people today, right now. \u2026 But we can\u2019t move forward without (approval from) the county. And we\u2019re pretty sure the county is going to hit us with something.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day after Franks made that prediction, the county did, in fact, make public its latest lawsuit<\/a> against Mind OC.<\/p>\n

In the complaint, filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court, the county accuses its nonprofit partner of overcharging for rent, violating patient privacy rights and funneling money to the office of former county Supervisor Andrew Do, who is serving a 60-month sentence in federal prison for misusing public funds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The county made similar allegations against Mind OC (minus the Do-related issues) nearly two years ago. At the time, the county wanted to remove Mind OC from having any role at the Be Well campus in Orange. Since late 2024, Franks and other Mind OC leaders have stayed on as the property managers in Orange only because of a court-issued temporary restraining order.<\/p>\n

But the running legal squabble between the county and one of its nonprofit partners \u2014 as costly and as frustrating as it is for both parties \u2014 reflects a bigger problem.<\/p>\n

Even if the $110 million Be Well campus in Irvine opened today, it would be a welcome but hardly world-changing addition to a mental health treatment ecosystem that, in Orange County, is woefully outgunned.<\/p>\n

Like much of the country, in Orange County there aren\u2019t nearly enough beds, or experts, to treat a fast-rising wave of mental illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s such a huge, huge need for this. A lot of people need help and there aren\u2019t a lot of places to get it,\u201d Franks said.<\/p>\n

On this, county officials agree with Mind OC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true,\u201d said Dr. Veronica Kelley, director of the county\u2019s Health Care Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of treating people with severe (mental health and substance abuse) issues, everybody is playing catch-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

40,000<\/p>\n

The situation in Orange County reflects an unexpected twist that\u2019s true in many of the nation\u2019s biggest counties: If you suffer from severe mental illness, being poor isn\u2019t necessarily a disadvantage.<\/p>\n

The state estimates that about two-thirds of the 3.2 million people living in Orange County are covered by some type of private insurance. Though such coverage generally is viewed as effective at finding care for illnesses ranging from colds to cancers, most experts say \u2014 and federal studies have shown<\/a> \u2014 that private insurers are often ill-equipped to help people with severe mental illnesses. If someone is diagnosed with a debilitating form of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, for example, private insurance often can\u2019t place them in a bed that would provide them with needed \u2014 indeed, potentially life-saving \u2014 full-time care.<\/p>\n

Most of the million or so locals who aren\u2019t covered by private insurance have public coverage, either Medicare, which is mostly for people age 65 and up, or Medi-Cal, known locally as Cal Optima, which is mostly for people who can\u2019t afford any other insurance. Like the private insurance system, those public plans also don\u2019t always have access to enough beds or experts as much as is needed for people with severe mental illnesses.<\/p>\n

But the county \u2014 specifically, the Behavioral Health division of the Orange County Health Care Agency \u2014 comes closer.<\/p>\n

Since the mid-1980s, when the nation (led by California) shut down public mental hospitals (a response to patient abuses and a tax-cutting move), that segment of the health care world has languished. In recent decades, as mental illness has become less stigmatized and as the gap in available coverage has become more acute, states and counties have used tax money to rebuild some of what is needed to care for the most severely mentally ill.<\/p>\n

In Orange County, that means Behavioral Health now works with about 100 local treatment providers to help patients who are covered by CalOptima and have been medically diagnosed with \u201csevere\u201d forms of mental illness or substance abuse disorders. That county system, which is separate from CalOptima, has a budget north of $800 million and access to about 1,300 beds. That\u2019s a more robust world of care for severe mental illness than typically can be accessed through private insurance, according to many.<\/p>\n

And, according to Kelley and others, it\u2019s not nearly enough.<\/p>\n

Last year, Behavioral Health helped about 38,000 individuals, a population of indigent people with severe mental illness that\u2019s roughly as big as the city of Stanton. That world was separate from the people covered by CalOptima, which probably treated a similar number of people with less severe forms of mental illness, or the world of private insurers who, based on size, probably treated three times as many locals with severe and less-severe mental illnesses.<\/p>\n

Kelley and other experts, including Franks, said no version of health care \u2014 public or private \u2014 currently has capacity to match the need when it comes to a rising wave of mental illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge psychiatrist deficit in the state,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cWe have, maybe, 50% of the psychiatrists we actually need to treat the actual demand. That\u2019s true for both the public and the private sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subset of patients helped by the county includes people with a wide variety of illnesses. Last year, Behavioral Health treated about 10,000 people with severe substance abuse disorders, and about 14,000 children battling forms of mental illness that require constant care or hospitalization, as well as about 14,000 adults.<\/p>\n

But funding for that treatment comes from a small slice of the county\u2019s sales taxes and auto licensing fees. That means wages for county-employed medical experts \u2014 from psychiatrists and psychologists to clinical therapists, nurses and others \u2014 are much less than, perhaps half, what they would earn in the private sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people we hire are, obviously, mission-driven,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cAnd the people we serve are the most severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that local pool of potential patients \u2014 people with the most severe versions of mental illness who don\u2019t have access to private insurance \u2014 is growing faster than the system can accommodate. So far this year, Kelley estimates, the patient load has already jumped to about 40,000.<\/p>\n

When asked if that\u2019s a result of mental illness actually becoming more common, or is instead a result of more people recognizing mental illness and feeling less stigma for admitting they need help, Kelley said, \u201cYes. It\u2019s all of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also noted that, anecdotally, as many as a quarter of the people being treated by the county come from families who purposely dropped out of private health systems, a process that would require them to reduce their net worth to a level that would qualify for public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019ll have older parents, like in their 80s, who have paid for commercial insurance for their adult child who has schizophrenia. And now, as they age, they\u2019re worried that they\u2019re gonna die, and their child\u2019s gonna have nobody. So they\u2019ll stop the insurance,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re doing that so they can fall into our system, and so we can then serve them,\u201d she added. \u201cBut that\u2019s a travesty that a parent even has to make such a decision because their health care doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Be<\/p>\n

Be Well OC is wrapped\u00a0in red ribbon, (and red tape), as the long-await mental health facility\u2019s opening is stalled by legal disputes. Chief Strategy Officer Blair Contratto stands outside the main entrance at the Great Park in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.\u00a0(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Be Well OC mental health van sits in front of the new Irvine facility\u00a0at the Great Park on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. The full-service, 16-acre mental health facility has been bogged down with legal disputes and the long-awaited opening is uncertain. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Drought-tolerant,<\/p>\n

Drought-tolerant, colorful plants adorn the garden area of the new Be Well OC mental health facility at the Great Park in Irvine. The facility\u2019s opening is in question because of disputes. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Local<\/p>\n

Local art, like this framed tapestry\u00a0of reclaimed fabrics and threads by Irvine artist Mitzie Mires, adorns the Be Well OC facility at the Great Park in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Blair<\/p>\n

Blair Contratto, chief strategy officer for Be Well OC, walks through the mental health facility\u2019s mother\/child unit of the 16-acre property at the Great Park in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack and Jill bathrooms connect teen units of the Be Well OC mental health facility at the Great Park in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.. Everything on the 16-acre campus is \u201canti-ligature,\u201d or designed to prevent self-harm. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The garden area of the new Be Well OC Irvine campus includes a pickleball court, drought-tolerant plants, and a soothing area to sit or walk. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Blair<\/p>\n

Blair Contratto, chief strategy officer for Be Well OC, points out the donor wall showcasing the mental health facility\u2019s public and private partnership. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible promise to all of Orange County,\u201d she said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Be<\/p>\n

Be Well vans are parked outside the new Be Well mental health campus in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Chief<\/p>\n

Chief Strategy Officer for Be Well OC, Blair Contratto, is backdropped by local artist Damin \u201czaoone\u201d Lujan\u2019s \u201cCurrents of Calm,\u201d a mural at the Irvine facility on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Through symbolism the work pays homage to community divirsity, peace and support. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Blair<\/p>\n

Blair Contratto, chief strategy officer for Be Well OC, stands outside an empty adolescent residential room at the newly built mental health facility in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 11<\/p>\n

Be Well OC is wrapped\u00a0in red ribbon, (and red tape), as the long-await mental health facility\u2019s opening is stalled by legal disputes. Chief Strategy Officer Blair Contratto stands outside the main entrance at the Great Park in Irvine on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.\u00a0(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nFor all?<\/p>\n

The legal battle between the county and Mind OC is about a lot of things.<\/p>\n

Money is part of it. The county, which pays the rents set by Mind OC at the Be Well campus in Orange and possibly the future campus in Irvine, has described those rents as criminally high. The lawsuit alleges that Mind OC has fraudulently overbilled on rent by several million dollars.<\/p>\n

Franks and other Mind OC officials strongly deny that allegation, saying they charge rents that reflect standard industry practices. They also note that it would be bad for everybody \u2014 patients and treatment providers alike \u2014 if the properties couldn\u2019t be maintained well enough, for many decades, to attract high-quality health care providers.<\/p>\n

Franks said he and his team were \u201cblindsided\u201d when the county initiated legal action against Mind OC in late 2024, saying they previously believed they were in good standing with the county. Now, he said, they\u2019re less surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county is looking to seize our assets and take these (mental health care campuses) over,\u201d Franks said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago, we realized, too late, that the county was looking to build a narrative. And they\u2019re still trying to do that, to build a narrative that we\u2019re not the right people to run these facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they\u2019re wrong. We are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond money, the lawsuit is also about boundaries and appropriate roles.<\/p>\n

The county views Mind OC as a developer and property manager, not a provider of mental health care.<\/p>\n

Mind OC \u2014 which, in several local cities, has hired mental health technicians to drive in \u201cBe Well\u201d vans to provide emergency response services for mental health-related police calls \u2014 described itself this way in its 2025 federal tax filings: \u201cBe Well Orange County is working to make Orange County the happiest and healthiest community in the United States. And that starts with a world-class mental health care system. The mission is to make compassionate mental health care more accessible for all in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that last phrase \u2014 \u201cfor all\u201d \u2014 is key to the stakes in Mind OC\u2019s legal battle with the county.<\/p>\n

When Mind OC was formed as a nonprofit in 2019, it was responding to a county plan to create a chain of local health care campuses that would provide mental health treatment for anyone, including people with county insurance or no insurance, and people with private insurance who couldn\u2019t find adequate mental health treatment in their health systems.<\/p>\n

The first of those campuses, in Orange, opened in 2021. At the time, the pandemic was still raging and a mental health crisis \u2014 nationally and locally \u2014 was at a flashpoint. Soon, the county limited access at the Be Well campus in Orange to patients served by public health care, a condition it also wants for the Irvine Be Well campus.<\/p>\n

The long-term isolation many people experienced during the pandemic, Kelley said, drove the need for mental health care so dramatically that the county had no choice but to become more focused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic did some really good things for mental health. It increased our awareness of the importance of it,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it also disrupted our ability to have that (human to human) connection, and we have not recovered from it,\u201d she added. \u201cIt also disrupted our health care systems in total, which included behavioral health clinicians, and many people left the health care system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelley suggested that, in a perfect world, the Be Well campuses would serve everybody, but that such a goal isn\u2019t yet feasible.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil private insurance companies can bring themselves on par with our public behavioral health system, we will all be at a disadvantage \u2026 Standing up systems on the private side that resemble those that we have established on the public side would be a benefit to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up: More need<\/p>\n

Regardless of how the lawsuit with Mind OC plays out, Kelley said the county is pushing forward on several programs to boost help for people with severe mental illness.<\/p>\n

For example, she said her agency is working with UC Irvine, which has a medical school, to \u201ctrain the trainer.\u201d The goal is to help primary care physicians, pediatricians and family practice doctors get better at identifying and helping people struggling with mental illness and substance abuse. Earlier treatment, she noted, can prevent people from sliding into the world of \u201cseverely\u201d ill people who get treatment from the county.<\/p>\n

But Kelley, along with Franks and others, also believes the mental health care crisis soon could get worse.<\/p>\n

Federal changes to funding for the poor \u2014 including cuts for food assistance, public housing and, critically, health care \u2014 are aimed at reducing the number of people who receive federal help. Those changes, enacted ostensibly to limit access to federal money only to legal residents and to prevent fraud in the federal health system, could boost health care needs in a broader way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe changes in Medicaid coverage \u2026 particularly here in California, with the removal of undocumented individuals from having Medi-Cal, does not stop people from getting sick,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n

But regardless of changes at the federal level, Kelley said the county is committed to adding 500 mental health beds over the next five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith uncertainty at the federal level, with regard to (the Department of) Health and Human Services, and Medicaid, as well as some of the shortfalls in the state\u2019s budget, the fact that we can bring that many beds online is a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if the beds at the Be Well campus in Irvine are part of that plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walk through the structures at the newest Be Well OC mental health campus, on the south edge of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,5432,884,393,394],"class_list":["post-543239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-local-news","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}