Ultimately, the decision about who will run mental-health services for New Mexico shouldn't be just about budgets or operations — it should be about people, said two Santa Fe providers.

The state Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative announced Thursday that it had entered into talks with OptumHealth New Mexico to take over from ValueOptions New Mexico as a central management group for mental-health services.

The contractor manages the combined funds for 15 state agencies focused on mental health, with a goal of streamlining services and providing improved care.

ValueOptions ran the program for its first four years, after the collaborative was created during the 2004 Legislature. The new contract will run from July 1, 2009 through June 20, 2013.

But while it's important that the agency manage funds as efficiently as possible, especially considering the U.S. financial slump, it's also important that the new contractor make sure patients don't fall through the cracks during a transition, said Carol Luna-Anderson, executive director of The Life Link, a Santa Fe provider of mental health services and housing.

"Right now, we've got people living on the streets that are so sick — children, people with schizophrenia," Luna-Anderson said. "There are huge needs. We need to be careful."

The contract hasn't been finalized, and talks could break down, but if things go well the state could be able to announce a signed deal with a new contractor at the collaborative's next scheduled meeting on the third Thursday in January, said Betina Gonzales McCracken, a spokeswoman.

"We're still in the procurement process," Gonzales McCracken said, adding the state cannot say much until a deal is finalized.

This year, the contract was worth somewhere between $300 million and $350 million, Gonzales McCracken said. Budgets change, though, since most of the funding comes through Medicaid, she added.

Threats of budget cuts on the federal level have many providers worried about services that already exist, and switching providers can be a costly thing in and of itself, said Peggy Harnish, board president of the National Alliance for Mental Illness in Santa Fe.

"Change costs money, and it's hard to say what will happen. But the bottom line for us is that we always need more services, and funding is always tight," Harnish said. "There's concern also that we don't want people to fall through the cracks as we switch providers."

Some have complained about funding distribution from ValueOptions, but Luna-Anderson said she admires the company for taking on the considerable task of trying to streamline services that had been split across several agencies before 2004.

"I think the learning curve was much greater than was anticipated," Luna-Anderson said. "A lot of wonderful people work at ValueOptions, and I hope the new agency will hire many of them."

And, of course, everybody would like to see more money in their budgets, even though that's not always possible, Luna-Anderson said.

"There have been situations where I have been a little frustrated, but overall I've had a positive relationship with ValueOptions," Luna-Anderson said. "I know others have not had that, but we'd all like to do more."

Steven Anderson, a spokesman for ValueOptions, said he was disappointed that the state chose to enter talks with another agency. There is a clause in the request for proposals that lets losing bidders protest the decision, and "we will pursue those rights," Anderson said.

"We feel we've done an outstanding job with the state," Anderson said. "We feel what we do is important for New Mexico and we'd like to continue."

Officials at OptumHealth couldn't be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. The Minnesota-based company's Web site notes that in the behavioral health area it serves about 43 million Americans and has 3,000 employees.

The company works with companies, trust funds, commercial health plans and public entities, and has more than 3,500 care facilities nationwide.

Luna-Anderson said she thinks the Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative put a lot of thought into the bidding process, and she trusts whatever decision they make regarding a new contractor.

"I respect the state decision makers for wanting to find the best services for children and adults," Luna-Anderson said. "We don't have any room for fluff anywhere. We are right now just wanting to maintain the level of services we have. I have to trust that those in the negotiating process took every possible avenue to make sure they made the best decision for our state."

Contact Sue Vorenberg at svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.