Committee advances amendment to extend and increase hospice services contract for Mitre Compassionate Care

The Budget & Finance Committee voted to forward to the full Board a resolution to amend the Department of Public Health’s contract with Mitre Compassionate Care (a 15-bed licensed facility providing RCFCI-equivalent skilled-nursing, hospice, and mental-health services) to extend the term through March 31, 2027 and increase the not-to-exceed amount to approximately $14.1 million.

Bill Blum, DPH director of programs for primary care and HIV Health Services, said the provider operates a combined skilled-nursing and hospice program focused on people who are dually or triply diagnosed and that the program serves older adults and others with high needs. Blum said DPH agreed with the BLA recommendations in the committee packet and expects that recent hires will allow the provider to meet previously missed mental-health unit targets.

The Budget and Legislative Analyst reported the program’s annual operating budget is about $1.4 million, funded by federal and state sources, and flagged that the provider did not meet required mental-health service-unit levels in prior monitoring. DPH responded that positions have been filled and that services are on track. Supervisors discussed workforce and service-target realism across DPH contracts amid rising costs. The committee moved the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation.