Southwest Counseling Center awaits court ruling Wednesday

By Diana Alba Soular

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LAS CRUCES >> The Las Cruces-based Southwest Counseling Center opened for business Tuesday, in spite of prior concerns that the behavioral health provider would have to close its doors that day.

Separately, the provider and seven others around the state could learn as early as today whether a federal judge forces, at least temporarily, the state to restore key Medicaid funding that it cut off abruptly in recent weeks. That would keep Southwest Counseling Center open, at least for a while.

Headed into Tuesday, Southwest Counseling Center officials said they were on the verge of shutting down because they'd yet to receive a key, promised payment from the state that would allow the group to pay its roughly 120 employees through the end of the month -- potentially its last payroll ever.

Southwest Counseling Center CEO Roque Garcia said the group still hadn't received the money on Tuesday, but its governing board decided to rely upon a pledge by the state that the funds will be paid.

"They sent me an email guaranteeing they'll deposit the money before payroll," he said. "I ran it past the board, and they were tentative because the state hasn't always been the most forthcoming on these things, but we felt that it was best to try it."

State officials have said they're committed to sending the money.

Las Cruces resident Jeanne Barnes, 66, a client of Southwest Counseling Center, said she's worried about the fate of the organization. The center helped her by correctly diagnosing an illness, bipolarism; by finding the proper medication regimen; and by providing twice-monthly counseling, she said.

Barnes said she's happy with Southwest Counseling Center's level of service, but the thought of a new provider, as the state human services department has proposed, leaves her uncertain.

"I call Southwest every day to see if they're open," she said. "I don't know about another provider; I don't know how that would work."

The center serves between 2,000 and 3,000 patients per year, officials have said.

Court hearing

While the center didn't close Tuesday, its future is still up in the air.

That may crystallize Wednesday during a 9 a.m. court hearing in federal court in Albuquerque. A judge is expected to weigh in on the providers' requests for a temporary injunction upon the state, essentially forcing the state to resume Medicaid payments to the groups.

Garcia said he recognizes that the legal filing is an "uphill battle," but it's the providers' last-ditch effort to continue operating.

"At this point it's the only chance we have because the state is acting so totally and completely irrational," he said. "It's hard to believe anybody could do this, based on rumors and innuendos."

Garcia referred to the state's decision to halt payments based on an independent audit that found overbilling and potential fraud among the state's 15 private, Medicaid-funded providers of mental health and substance-abuse services. The state, however, hasn't released specific allegations, saying it can't because they findings are now the subject of an investigation. Officials have said the seriousness made it necessary to shut down payments.

Garcia and others have said that the state's move -- punishing the providers but not telling them why -- is unfair at its core.

"We don't have anything to defend ourselves on because we don't know what they're alleging," he said. "That's what's so bad about this whole situation."

The state human services department couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Joining in the request for a federal judge's ruling is the Las Cruces-based Families and Youth Inc. That organization has said it's not facing closure because it gets funding from other sources.

Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said the service provided by Southwest Counseling Center is important to the patients. He said he doesn't see why the operations couldn't continue while an investigation was carried out.

"Don't stop the investigation, but run it parallel," he said. "I just hope (Wednesday's) hearing comes out favorable for Southwest and all the others and, more importantly, for the residents who are in need of those services."

Garcia has said that he welcomes an investigation by the state Attorney General's Office because he has nothing to hide. He said he's asked for it to be expedited.

Lawmakers to meet

Also Wednesday, state human services department Secretary Sidonie Squier is slated to appear in Albuquerque before the state Legislative Finance Committee, a panel of lawmakers.

State Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said his aim is to turn down the "volume" of the heated discussion between providers and the state department.

"The No. 1 point that has to be made is that the services for those people that need the services is the most critical issue," he said. "If there's a change for the people who provide the service, I want it to be seamless."

Smith, vice chairman of the committee, said he's requested a presence by staffers at the federal courtroom Wednesday morning. Squier is slated to testify to the committee around 1 p.m., he said.

Diana Alba Soular can be reached at (575) 541-5443

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