Laurel Ridge Treatment Center Faces Challenges
San Antonio – These are tough times for the Laurel Ridge Treatment Center, with some patients now looking for help elsewhere as they navigate their own challenges.
The mental health and addiction treatment facility, located on the Northside, has officially lost its ability to receive payments from Medicare and Medicaid.
This change, which was reported earlier this month, took effect on Thursday.
“It’s certainly a cause for concern,” Anne Marie Ivey stated while visiting the facility that morning.
Ivey, who works in the mental health sector at another local facility, had come to Laurel Ridge intending to assist patients who had been relocated.
“It’s to make sure they have a safe place,” she explained. “They won’t go to the hospital.”
Yet, on her way out, Ivey expressed disappointment with how she was treated by the staff.
“They recognized that there was a need, that there were individuals requiring placement, and that my information would be forwarded to case management,” she noted.
The loss of Medicaid and Medicare privileges is just one of the issues impacting Laurel Ridge.
Last November, it was reported that a state inspection had identified numerous safety violations at this facility near Loop 1604 and Redland Road.
In its decision to discontinue services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also cited the facility’s failure to comply with patient safety standards.
Earlier this week, Laurel Ridge announced plans to lay off around 650 employees due to the cut in Medicare and Medicaid services. These layoffs are set to take effect on June 26th.
Efforts by KSAT to reach the facility’s CEO, Ashley Sacriste, through multiple emails and phone calls went unanswered.
When KSAT visited her home on Thursday morning, a man who answered the door instructed them to leave.
After some time, Sacriste arrived home during work hours and requested the news crew to leave while stating, “Please don’t come to my house. You can email me.”
As of Thursday afternoon, she had yet to send the promised email to KSAT.
Attempts to contact Laurel Ridge’s parent company, Universal Health System, were also met with silence.
Previously, in an interview, Jaelyn LeBlanc Jamison, President and CEO of Healthcare Services Center, expressed concern about the implications of the Laurel Ridge situation for other mental health communities.
Jamison indicated that the closure would result in 330 fewer beds for mental health patients, worsening the existing regional shortage.
Recent coverage of Laurel Ridge on KSAT:
