Improving mental health care access should be a top workplace, economic development and legislative priority for Iowa, concluded a panel of experts assembled Wednesday by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. 

In Iowa, an estimated 1 in 5 adults, or about 600,000 people, live with some form of mental illness, and about 37,000 residents in the state struggle daily with a serious mental illness, according to statistics from the National Alliance on Mental Health. However, Iowa and many other states, particularly rural states, face an ongoing shortage of mental health professionals. 

The Public Policy Issue Forum on Mental Health, moderated by Business Record Publisher Chris Conetzkey, included Carrie Clogg, a board member of NAMI Iowa; Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly; NAMI Iowa Executive Director Peggy Huppert; and Dr. Janice Landy, psychiatry section chief for inpatient behavioral health at Broadlawns Medical Center. 

The fact that the Partnership hosted an event calling attention to the issue and Gov. Kim Reynolds’ mention of several mental health programs as funding priorities in her Condition of the State address on Tuesday are indicators that the issue is gaining momentum, the panelists observed. However, much more work needs to be done to address gaps in the system and provide a continuum of care for people with mental illness, they said. 

“It’s absolutely no coincidence that we scheduled this forum right at the start of the Legislature,” Connolly told a full house of 110 who filled the space at the Partnership Building. 

Education and awareness are important steps toward addressing the stigma that still surrounds mental illness, Huppert said. 

In February, Polk County will launch a comprehensive public awareness campaign to educate residents about resources available to people needing mental health treatment and support, Connolly said. Among the resources to be distributed are wallet cards produced by NAMI that provide tips on what to say and do — and avoid saying or doing — if someone is having a mental health crisis. 

Broadlawns’ Landy said people seeking help can often wait three months to see a psychiatrist in Iowa, and approximately 60 counties in the state have no psychiatrists at all. At one point last year, Broadlawns had 18 people waiting in the emergency department and other areas of the hospital for inpatient psychiatric beds to open up because facilities statewide were at capacity, she said. 

The shortage of mental health professionals is even more acute for children with psychiatric conditions, said Clogg, who had to wait nearly six months to get an appointment for her son, who at the time was 4. “And there have been times he was in crisis and could not be seen,” she said. “You don’t see that in any other areas of health care.” 

The issue should concern businesses as well. Huppert noted that depression is the top reason for employee absenteeism and loss of workplace productivity. Yet the state has a shortage of psychiatric staff, in part because Iowa is at “the bottom of the bottom” in how health care is funded, she said. 

“It makes a lot of sense for businesses to be involved in this, because it is a workforce issue, and if leaders say this is important … that is huge,” Huppert said. 

Connolly urged business leaders attending the forum to set an example for their organizations, or approach their CEOs to seek policies that encourage employees to use mental health resources if needed. 

NAMI Iowa is advocating for a bill in the Legislature to establish a statewide toll-free number that residents can call to access mental health care resources, Huppert said.

Huppert said that businesses could get involved by signing up for NAMI Iowa’s Day on the Hill on Feb. 21 at the Capitol, and by distributing NAMI resource materials at their workplaces.  

To view the Partnership’s video of the forum, click here.