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Community mental health board approved

Laramie Boomerang - 6/10/2017

Creation of a community health board was approved during the Albany County Commission meeting Tuesday. The Albany County Community Mental Health Board was created as a service program to identify better ways of providing care to community members with mental illness, Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent said.

The Request for Proposal on the board states the amount of money Albany County was spending to provide mental health care was not being spent wisely. Part of the cost came from a lack of coordination between organizations that have become more varied in their approaches because of inconsistencies costing the county and state.

"It's essentially to assist us in diverting as many cases as we can from the system and getting people more appropriately placed if needed," Trent said. "If we can share regionally, pool our resources, that would assist with placements when we have acute care and also add patient services."

The goal of the new board is to coordinate the steps involved with getting people the right treatment, Trent said. To do this, the mental health board will have to determine where there are gaps in services and create a process and protocols to get people with the treatment that best works for them.

She said the board will work toward creating a more outpatient-and preventative-oriented service to replace the county's current service. How to measure success will be determined by the board once members are appointed.

According to the request for proposal, Ivinson Memorial Hospital had 164 patients who were involuntarily detained in 2016. Currently at the hospital, 10.4 percent of people being checked in for mental health reasons are readmitted for mental health reasons.

The creation of a community mental health board is an attempt to lower cost while providing services associated with Wyoming Title 25, a section of Wyoming statute that outlines the process and procedure of detention and involuntary hospitalization of mentally ill persons, Trent said.

A community mental health board will help the county have a more uniform process for getting treatment to those who need it more, in a more fiscally responsible way, she said. The way Albany County used to comply with Title 25 was expensive for the state and county, but by creating this board and pooling the county's resources together, the money spent on care will be used more wisely, Trent said.

According to the proposal's resolution, the new board will have nine members who are appointed by the county commissioners. Members will represent stakeholders involved in the involuntary commitment process in Albany County.

Despite budget cuts, the new mental health board secured a $65,000 grant through the Wyoming Department of Health. The Albany County Commission will provide additional funding of $24,000 that was previously allocated for mental health services. According to meeting item agenda sheet, the board can obtain additional funding through grants.