Michigan Nurses Association Grieves Closure Of Borgess Annex Mental Health Facility In Kalamazoo

The Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) filed a labor grievance seeking to force Ascension Borgess to continue use of specialty facility dedicated to emergency care of patients experiencing mental health crises.  Ascension Borgess says they have reopened this Annex for mental health patients after "logistical improvements".

This situation begs the question: Should mental health care be delivered in emergency units geared towards physical trauma and illnesses, or delivered in separate facilities devoted to mental health?

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Michigan Nurses Association opposes mental health unit shift by Ascension Borgess
By Donny Ede | March 7th 2024

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Michigan Nurses Association, or MNA, is voicing their opinion on Ascension Borgess' decision to no longer use a specialty facility to care for patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

However, in a statement Thursday, Borgess said they are using the facility, named the "Annex" again, and it was only temporarily shut down "due to logistical improvements being made."

"Due to logistical improvements being made, for approximately the last week, behavioral health patients were being treated in a separate designated area of the emergency department, with the same care services and resources available to them as in the annex. As of today, those improvements have been completed, and behavioral health patients are once again receiving care in the behavioral health annex," a Borgess spokesperson said in a statement.

Ascension Borgess opened a $1.5 million Annex in 2017 to provide care for patients that go to the emergency room while experiencing a mental health crisis.

Seven years later, the hospital has decided to use the space for general patients next to each other.

"My concern is that we are going to see an increase of medical interventions for these patients including medications, or other things that we as nurses are trained to take care of in a safety environment such as the annex," Behavior Health Intake Nurse Cindy Evans said.

MNA has said they believe posting more jobs and hiring more nurses is a better solution to reducing emergency department wait times.

The Michigan Nurses Association also filed a class-action grievance seeking to stop the change......