The supervisors on Tuesday approved a three-year contract between the Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services and Traditions Behavioral Health, which can provide up to five full-time psychiatrists for the long-understaffed department. The contract could cost up to $5.8 million through June 2017; vacant positions that would be filled are already budgeted in the next year’s budget. The psychiatrists would be expected to see 6-12 patients daily and perform follow-up evaluations at least once every three months.
