Mental health CEO prepares supervisors for change

MARENGO — “It makes me sad to be here this morning,” Mae Hingtgen, chief executive officer of the East Central Mental Health Region, told Iowa County Supervisors last week.

The State of Iowa formed mental health regions in 2014, and Hingtgen has managed mental health issues for Iowa County since she became CEO of the state’s East Central Region.

But Hingtgen and the East Central Region team plan to submit a proposal to become the administrative service organization for the new District 7, which includes Johnson County but not Iowa County.

Hingtgen had hoped, as had Iowa County Supervisors, that Iowa County would remain with Johnson County during the redesign, but that didn’t happen. The map of districts creates five districts with populations near 1 million and five smaller districts with populations between 180,000 and 298,693.

“That’s a little unusual, that there are two super districts,” said Hingtgen. “There are five of Iowa’s eight metropolitan counties in District 7.”

Hingtgen said she knew the chance was small that all nine East Central Region counties would stay together. But the grouping is for administrative purposes only, said Hingtgen. The intension of the state is to assure that no matter where people live, they will receive the same services.

The Districts will define standards and eligibility of access, said Hingtgen. Iowa County clients can still go to Linn County for services.

Patients should see no negative impact from the realignment, said Hingtgen. They should see an improvement.

Because Hingtgen won’t be bidding or the administrative position in the new District 6 which includes Iowa County, she gave Iowa County Supervisors some tips about what they should look for in an administrative services organization.

“Will our opinions matter?” asked Supervisor Kevin Heitshusen. “They haven’t so far.”

The State has operated under mental health regions for 10 years. Prior to that, counties handled mental health issues for 29 years, said Heitshusen. “The county system was working.” The state tried to fix something that wasn’t broken.

Hingtgen said one of the concerns brought up by law enforcement is having money for a mental health liaison for police and sheriff’s departments.

The request for proposal for ASOs includes “an expectation for co-responders,” said Hingtgen. “I know that’s been a successful program here.”

Hingtgen encouraged Iowa County to be part of the transition team as the regions become districts.

“We’re a region for nine more months,” said Hingtgen. The regions will have administrative decisions to make concerning shared resources and employee benefits.

Supervisor Jon Degen asked Hingtgen how many organizations would be bidding for ASO positions. Hingtgen said all the districts have at least one organization that wants to administer it. No district was shut out.

All of the bidders are Iowans, Hingtgen said. “Everything was pretty local.”

One name on the list of organizations interested in administering a District was “one name very specific to District 6,” Hingtgen said.

“Things are coming together,” said Degen, though Heitshusen noted that the county is at the mercy of “what’s coming down the pike.”

“I believe in the vision that HHS has set,” said Hingtgen. The new arrangement will eliminate boundaries so people can go anywhere in the state that has the services they need, she said.

Administrative service organizations will be named by the end of the year, and regions will reorganize from Jan. 1 through June 30.