SD18 - The Effects of Recent State Employment Reduction Programs on the Services within the Mental Health Institutions


Executive Summary:
INTRODUCTION

Senate Joint Resolution No. 97 requests the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to study the effects of recent state employment reduction programs on the services within the mental health institutions, with particular emphasis on the impact of these efforts on rural mental health hospitals. The Department undertook five major objectives as identified within the resolution:

(1) evaluate the savings gained by reductions in force in relationship to the need to rehire essential personnel;
(2) evaluate whether new employees are being hired at the same, lower, or higher salaries than the retired or resigned employees they are replacing;
(3) examine salary scales to ascertain any need to upgrade the salaries of long-term employees who were hired at much lower salaries than the entry level salaries of today;
(4) ascertain whether the salaries of these long-term employees are not being overtaken and surpassed by those of new employees with the same or comparable credentials; and
(5) examine the morale of rural employees to ascertain the need to upgrade and revise its policies in order to improve the quality of the work environment and, thereby, the quality of care.

The term "mental health institutions" was interpreted to mean both mental health and mental retardation facilities. The term "rural" is defined by the DMHMRSAS Community Services Board Classification report as an area with a population density of less than 130 people per square mile. A representative sample of rural facilities was used for this study. They include the following:

* Catawba Hospital
* DeJarnette Center
* Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute
* Southside Virginia Training Center
* Southwestern Virginia Mental Health Institute
* Southwestern Virginia Training Center
* Western State Hospital

This sample includes a geriatric hospital, a children's facility, two small mental health institutes, one large psychiatric hospital, and one large and one small training center for persons with mental retardation.

In the process of downsizing, the Department's priority was quality of care, and efforts were focused on retaining direct care and clinical employees. Employees in direct care and clinical positions were denied voluntary separation under the Workforce Transition Act (WTA) to a much greater extent than employees in support and administrative positions. Of the total employees denied voluntary separation under the WTA, approximately 81 % were in direct care or clinical positions as opposed to only 15% in support positions and 4% in administrative positions.

KEY FINDINGS:

• Comparison of salaries (does not include severance payments) of employees who left through the WTA to salaries of replacement employees, continuing vacancies, and privatization costs reveals that, as of June 1, 1996, a reduced cost of more than $1.3 million has been realized department-wide.

• As part of the WTA process, facilities identified critical and essential positions to be refilled with emphasis placed on direct care and clinical classifications. Of the positions identified for refill, 47. 10% are in direct care and clinical classifications, 29.65%. in support classifications, and 23.25% in administrative classifications.

• Analysis reveals that 67.13% of new employees hired to replace employees who left as part of the WTA were hired at lower salaries than the employees they replaced.

• Analysis reveals that average salaries of long-term employees (hired before June 1, 1993) generally exceed average salaries of short-term employees (hired after May 31, 1993). The average salary step for short-term employees is 4.71, whereas the average step of long-term employees is 10.85.

• A survey was developed to examine the morale of employees in the seven rural facilities included in this study. Fifty percent of the surveys were returned. Employee morale was measured using three scales: administration, inter-staff relations, and patient care environment.

Administration: A large percentage of employees feel positively that facility policies take personal/family circumstances into account, that facility administration is open to new ideas, listens to their concerns, and communicates information in a timely and understandable manner. A large percentage of employees also feel that the grievance process is fair.

A large percentage of employees are generally concerned about facility policies being applied uniformly to all employees, about facility administration managing privatization opportunities well, and about facility administration effectively addressing employee concerns about privatization. There is also concern regarding personnel policies being fair.

Inter-staff relations: Overall, responses on this scale were positive. A large percentage of employees feel positively that they and their co-workers work together as a team, that their patient care opinions are respected by others, and that they perform tasks efficiently and with good results as a team. A large percentage of employees feel positively that they are respected by their supervisors, that they are committed to quality patient care as a team, and that they and their co-workers have the necessary qualifications to perform their duties.

Patient care environment: Overall, responses on this scale were positive. A large percentage of employees feel that their facilities put patients/residents first and that their work group provides a healthy and caring environment for patients/residents. They are also generally positive concerning the average daily working conditions at their facilities being good and that their unit has sufficient resources to provide quality patient care.

The Commissioner along with the Office of Human Resource Development and Management will work with facility directors on employee concerns identified in the survey and strategies will be developed to address areas which had less positive responses. The Department will continue to reinforce the areas where positive responses were identified and assess the need to upgrade or revise its policies.