System failure looming

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/my_view/story/13909.html
Mark Sullivan (Exec. Dir., Mental Health Assoc. in Orange County)

Eight years into mental health reform, North Carolina has thus far dodged a bullet. Much of the postmortem on the origins and unfolding of the reform effort has been done. But how much worse can things get, and what will it take to bring about real and meaningful change?
If recent developments do not mark a turning point in reform, the turning point will be marked by tragedy on a massive scale.

Consider that after all of this time, just three of 24 (12.5 percent) local management entities (the organizations charged with ensuring needed services are available) in North Carolina are meeting minimum standards for routine care. Just 45 percent are meeting minimum standards for urgent care. How bad must things get before we are willing to re-think the fundamental assumptions that the new system was founded on?
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