Positive changes forthcoming in crisis services in Henry County

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County is going to see some changes in crisis services soon. That was the word from Sarah Berndt, central point of coordination director for Henry County, as she gave her monthly report during the latest Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday.

According to Berndt, positive changes in crisis services for patients in need of mental health treatment that are admitted to Henry County Health Center?s ER are coming in 2015.

?Not everybody has focused on crisis services like we have in southeast Iowa,? said Berndt. ?In talking with other counties in our region that have similar crisis services to the program we want to implement, crisis services like this have been proven to decrease the number of hospitalizations because patients can be sent to the proper level of care. It will also make more hospital beds available for people that really need to be in the hospital, rather than just hospitalizing someone because the hospital can?t provide a mental health doctor to properly evaluate an individual.?

With these changes in services, ER doctors will be able to call upon therapists for assistance in the event that a patient is in need or is suspected of being in need of mental health services. From there, a therapist will perform a mental health evaluation in the ER to determine the best form of treatment for the patient in question.

During her meeting with the supervisors, Berndt requested that a comprehensive meeting be set for all officials that will be involved with the changes in crisis services in Henry County to deter some of the issues that may arise as the transition is being made to this new program.

Although official credentialing for the new services program is not yet set, Berndt and the board agreed that the sooner officials could get together and iron out all the details of the changes, the better the process will be for all involved.

Another main topic of discussion during Thursday?s meeting was a review of Henry County?s insurance renewal. Mike Vens, an insurance agent with Gamrath-Doyle-Vens Insurance, gave the board a brief review of the county?s municipal account summary. Overall, Vens has positive news to report with no major points of concern to address.

One very positive point that Vens pointed out was that the credit voucher for Henry County?s account has increased yet again this year. It is up by approximately $1,700 to slightly over $16,000.

In addition, almost all county building coverage limits were increased by two percent. As a result of the limit increases, the total insured values went up slightly from $13,533,775 to $13,848,125.

Last on the agenda was an update from Supervisor Marc Lindeen regarding Community Action of Southeast Iowa (CASI). Currently, CASI is showing positive numbers in their Head Start and child development programs, however bus drivers to transport children to and from classrooms are desperately needed.

Lindeen reported that some parents that have children in the Head Start and child development programs are unable to provide transportation to get their children to and from these programs, and therefore rely heavily on buses to assist them with transportation.

For more information on these and other CASI programs, or for more information on available bus driver positions open through CASI, visit their website at www.caofseia.org.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.