A SURVEY OF UTILIZATION OF PSYCHIATRISTS IN COMMUNITY-MENTAL-HEALTH-CENTERS IN IOWA

Community mental health centers in Iowa were surveyed by mail in 1993 to obtain quantitative data on the utilization of psychiatrists at the centers. Responses from all 37 centers indicated that they employed a total of 34 full-time-equivalent (FTE) psychiatrists, representing about 18 percent of the psychiatrist-hours available in the state. The mean number of psychiatrist-hours per week per center was 36.9. New patients waited a mean of 30 days for nn initial assessment by a psychiatrist. Seventy-three percent of the centers indicated they could use additional psychiatrist-hours.