Clinicians and advocates urge supervisors to open county mental‑health campuses; board debates Mind OC contract issues

Dozens of public speakers at the March 10 meeting urged the Board of Supervisors to open two county mental‑health campuses built with public funding and to preserve trauma‑informed child services that the county said are at risk.

Dr. Richard Fable and other health‑care leaders said county‑sponsored Be Well campuses in Orange and Irvine are complete but not operating to their full potential because access has been restricted by provider contracting and insurance rules. "Let's open the Be Well campus to all patients who need the care," Fable said, urging the county to "cut the red tape" and insist Mind OC and the Health Care Agency work together to make the campus operate as intended.

Multiple UC Irvine clinicians and fellows described the FOCUS program, a long‑running family‑centered clinic that treats children who survived abuse. Clinicians said FOCUS both provides critical services and trains new child and adolescent psychiatrists; several speakers warned the program could close in June and urged continued county support and funding.

Vice Chair Katrina Foley and other supervisors described recent county audits and performance reviews that identified 38 performance deficiencies in Mind OC’s management of the Orange campus and billing issues that limited reimbursement. Board members said the county terminated the former master services agreement with Mind OC after the audit and that the county is pursuing steps to secure keys to the Irvine facility and to ensure approved providers can begin operations. "Give us the keys," Foley said, calling the campus a county asset that should be activated to serve patients.

County counsel and staff reported ongoing litigation with Mind OC seeking damages; the board reported the county is balancing landlord/tenant lease enforcement, audit findings, and provider approval steps to open the facilities while protecting county resources.

Next steps: supervisors asked health‑care agency and CEO staff to provide a status update at future board meetings and to return with contracting and operational options to open campuses where feasible.