The Salt Lake County Council voted Tuesday to lengthen its contract with Valley Mental Health, reversing a decision from last week to cut the contract to 18 months before considering other providers.

The switch back to a three-year contract came after Councilman Joe Hatch said the shortened contract flew under the radar and that the change was "not something to bring up at the last minute and sneak in under the wire."

"We've had a longtime partner with Valley Mental Health. For us as a county to negotiate a contract and then at the last minute alter the terms and send it back is not how we treat a partner," Hatch said.

Talks between county officials and leaders from Valley Mental Health, which provides a $6.5 million contract for mental health services to the county, had been under way for roughly seven months, but Councilman Mark Crockett amended the negotiated contract to 18 months last week.

Crockett said he pushed for shortening the contract to facilitate discussions at the county on whether Valley Mental Health should continue to provide health services en masse or whether the county should allow other providers to partition off some services.

The time change went unnoticed by several council members until Valley Mental Health officials raised the issue again, saying the shortened contract was not what was negotiated and that 18 months was not enough time to prepare in case the county decides to go with another provider when the agreement expires.

"We really have been engaged in good-faith negotiating and this really is a 12th-hour change for us," said Brian Miller, director of the county's division of mental health.

If the county does want to decentralize mental health services, Miller said a thorough evaluation of how and whether that is appropriate will take years and finding other providers will also take time. Eighteen months is not enough time to make that switch, he said.

Miller said the original contract with Valley Mental Health, which has been the provider for 17 years, stated that the renewal in 2006 would extend for three years.

"This is really a profound issue, and I would hate to see us put on the hook in 18 months. A three-year window of time is more reasonable," he said.

Although the County Council voted to go with the three-year agreement, Crockett added a condition that the council revisit the idea of decentralizing mental health services within the next six weeks.

Crockett added that he is not committed to the idea but believes packaging all the services under Valley Mental Health effectively blocks any entry by other providers. Breaking the services down into smaller components may allow other groups to bid for contracts, he said.

"It's difficult to imagine someone coming in and bidding on the whole pie. I find that improbable," he said. "That makes it really hard for any new small player to ever get involved."

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