RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has an interest in assuring healthcare for its citizens; and

WHEREAS, the social costs of untreated mental illness are incurred in increased unemployment, homelessness, domestic violence, crime, and unsafe schools, streets, and communities; and

WHEREAS, individuals with mental illness require the assistance of child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrists in order to improve the quality of their lives; and

WHEREAS, mental health services need to be expanded in rural areas, neighbor islands, and those populations with high rates of poverty, who lack insurance, or are covered by the State's Medicaid/QUEST programs; and

WHEREAS, the Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) Department of Psychiatry consists of services including Psychiatric Outpatient Service and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, and has physicians on staff who are accustomed to handling psychiatric issues; and

WHEREAS, the TAMC already flies military psychologists to Molokai and Hana, Maui to provide behavioral mental health services; and

WHEREAS, there is a need for trained psychiatrists to care for patients in underserved populations and areas in the State; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Commanding General of the Tripler Army Medical Center is respectfully requested to send psychiatrists (child, adolescent, and adult) to provide mental health services in federally recognized underserved areas of Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services assist with the coordination of this effort to provide psychiatric care in underserved area; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Human Services and the Director of Health are requested to submit a status report to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Commander General of Tripler Army Medical Center, Director of Health, and Director of Human Services.

Report Title:

Providing psychiatric care for underserved areas; Tripler