Friday, Aug. 20 – All invited! Crisis System Report Presented
Findings and recommendations of an in-depth assessment of mental health crisis services in northern Michigan will be presented to the public during a virtual community stakeholder meeting on Friday, August 20, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
The community stakeholder meeting will include a forty-minute presentation by Travis Atkinson, Director of Clinical and Crisis Services, of TBD Solutions, which conducted the assessment from December 2020 through June 2021 on behalf of North Country Community Mental Health Authority (NCCMHA) and Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority (NLCMHA), in partnership with Munson Healthcare and McLaren Northern Michigan.
There will be about twenty minutes for community members to ask questions. Community members are encouraged to send questions in advance by emailing lmanary@norcocmh.org by August 15.
As part of the assessment, 650 citizens and stakeholders in 12 northern Michigan counties completed surveys sharing their perspectives, beliefs, and experiences with behavioral health crisis services. In addition, 50 individuals participated in three focus groups, six stakeholder meetings were held, and over 1,500 data elements were collected and analyzed.
The purpose of the in-depth assessment is to build and deliver a continuum of crisis services for people with mental health and substance use disorders.
“There was great community support in participating in the survey and input sessions involved with this study,” said Joanie Blamer, Interim Chief Executive Officer at Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority. “This is the public’s opportunity to hear the outcomes of the survey and study, and to learn about the findings and recommendations. We invite all interested parties to attend.”
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with the two hospital systems in our region as we identify the strengths and shortcomings in access to behavioral health crisis services and treatment options. We look forward to continuing our collaboration as we expand and enhance the continuum of crisis services,” said Christine Gebhard, Chief Executive Officer of North Country Community Mental Health Authority.
Terri LaCroix-Kelty, Behavioral Health Director, Munson Medical Center, said, “Behavioral health crisis is an issue that needs attention and response. It is a community health issue, and we are pleased to be working with our community partners to mitigate behavioral health crisis and then hopefully to move upstream from there to better prevent crisis.”
The twelve counties involved are: Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Grand Traverse, Emmet, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Missaukee, Otsego, Roscommon, and Wexford.
The Zoom link to attend the meeting on August 20 is https://norcocmh.zoom.us/j/83809428375?pwd=MVVQaXRvcFRDTGhyWGkycytySzBuZz09. Use Meeting ID: 838 0942 8375, and Passcode: 002480.
QR Code to link to the meeting:
