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Bridge Michigan<\/p>\nBy Eli Newman, Bridge Michigan<\/p>\n
Mental health advocates are worried that a transition in crisis care in Oakland County is causing major service disruptions for adults in psychological emergencies.<\/p>\n
Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN), which manages a behavioral health provider network that serves about 30,000 county residents, notified local law enforcement last month to request \u201cindividuals in crisis be diverted to the local Emergency Departments\u201d rather than be admitted to the county\u2019s Resource and Crisis Center in Pontiac.<\/p>\n
Using the ER to care for mental health patients in crisis is a controversial practice sometimes called \u201cpsychiatric boarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision pushes out Oakland County\u2019s timeline to fully absorb adult mental health services as it pivots away from contracting out some of that work. Until recently, a nonprofit provider, Common Ground, operated a 24\/7 residential crisis center in Pontiac that serves all of Oakland County.<\/p>\n
Oakland Community Health Network assumed responsibility for the Pontiac Resource and Crisis Center in late January following\u00a0the acrimonious end of the county\u2019s relationship with Common Ground.<\/p>\n
Bridge Michigan<\/p>\n
Some operations are temporarily paused at the center, leaving Oakland County unable to take in severe mental health cases brought in by police for crisis stabilization, as well as run the center\u2019s short-term, voluntary crisis residential program that serves as an alternative to inpatient psychiatric hospitalization.<\/p>\n
Officials say nine individuals receiving care at the center were discharged on Jan. 29, when OCHN assumed responsibility for all adult crisis center crisis services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have the full staffing needed to operate that unit safely,\u201d Trisha Zizumbo, chief operating officer for OCHN, told Bridge Michigan.<\/p>\n
Executives at the public agency estimate they have about 50 positions left to fill before normal operations can resume, having brought on about 100 employees, many from Common Ground, during the transition.<\/p>\n
Dana Lasenby, OCHN\u2019s chief executive officer, said the agency is awaiting\u00a0a state license to operate its residential crisis program, and that there are \u201ccontingencies in place that are working\u201d that allow the site to continue providing 24\/7 walk-in crisis services and other types of support.<\/p>\n
Pontiac General Hospital and other local emergency departments are being used as a resource, Lasenby said. Pontiac General is facing a precarious future itself, after it\u00a0declared bankruptcy in 2024\u00a0and was\u00a0removed from Medicare.<\/p>\n
She estimates the Pontiac Resource and Crisis Center will have \u201ceverything up and running\u201d by April 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not our ideal to cease those services by the previous vendor in the way in which it happened or in the timeframe in which it happened,\u201d Lasenby told Bridge.<\/p>\n
Common Ground, which has provided behavioral health services in Oakland County for more than 50 years, ceased adult crisis services at the Pontiac center last month citing a contract dispute.<\/p>\n
While leadership at OCHN say the nonprofit was overpaid for its work, Common Ground CEO Heather Rae said the public agency failed to make hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments, causing her organization to run an \u201cunsustainable financial deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The split occurred over several months as OCHN broadcast its intent to absorb more crisis services\u00a0amid a shifting mental health care landscape in Michigan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely problematic,\u201d Rae told Bridge. \u201cIt was the only comprehensive crisis center in the state for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Common Ground served 1,300 individuals who were dropped off by police at the Pontiac Resource and Crisis Center in 2025, according to Rae, with about 8,000 visiting the location annually.<\/p>\n
The Oakland County Sheriff\u2019s Office did not respond to Bridge\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n
\u2018Unfair and impractical\u2019 decision<\/p>\n
Mental health advocates say they are concerned about the \u201cproblematic transition\u201d occurring in Oakland County and the \u201cunnecessary confusion\u201d it will cause the community, law enforcement and hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike hospital emergency departments, crisis centers are specifically designed and staffed with experienced professionals to aid people in crisis,\u201d said Marianne Huff, president and CEO of the Mental Health Association in Michigan, in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo expect hospital emergency departments to be ready to assume responsibility for an unknown number of additional individuals that are brought to hospitals by law enforcement is unfair and impractical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huff told members of the OCHN board Tuesday that the agency\u2019s actions are having a \u201cchilling effect\u201d on the statewide network of service providers who are navigating changing dynamics with their community mental health agencies.<\/p>\n
Crisis care advocates maintain that designated facilities with a specialized workforce who can assist in mental health emergencies are more cost-effective than diverting those responsibilities to others, while keeping individuals close to their support systems.<\/p>\n
MIchigan hospital leaders say they are \u201chopeful\u201d that community mental health agencies like OCHN will quickly bring services back online quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community mental health system is designed to support crisis response for patients with behavioral health needs,\u201d said Lauren LaPine-Ray, vice president of policy and rural health with the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, in an email. \u201cWhen these services are taken offline and emergency departments are used for mental health patients, capacity for medical emergencies is limited.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Troubling\u2019 changes for police<\/p>\n
The pause of crisis care services returns Oakland County to a baseline experienced by many in Michigan.<\/p>\n
Most counties do not have a crisis care facility for law enforcement to use, according to James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan.<\/p>\n
That lack of resources can be \u201ctroubling\u201d for law enforcement\u00a0personnel, Tignanelli said, as officers have to spend hours escorting individuals in a mental health crisis while they wait for treatment, which takes them away from their primary duties and personal life. He said departments often have to issue mandatory overtime to cover staffing shortages caused by the increased time spent in hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real draw on manpower, and it\u2019s not a setting that is easily secured,\u201d Tignanelli told Bridge. \u201cUltimately, it\u2019s our job, but it\u2019s not one that we\u2019re really trained for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel Pfannes, deputy director of the Michigan Sheriffs\u2019 Association, said a\u00a0\u201cstaggering\u201d number of incarcerated individuals\u00a0are on psychotropic medication. He said \u201cpre-arrest diversion resources\u201d such as mental health facilities can help keep them away from the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the law enforcement doesn\u2019t have those options available to them, then that individual is going to go to jail,\u201d Pfannes said. \u201cWe warehouse too many people that are mental health consumers in the jail systems right now.\u201d<\/p>\n