On Wednesday, Cascade Community Healthcare hosted its 7th Annual Legislative and Governmental Forum virtually this year, at which various local organizations addressed the panel of local officials and state representatives.
Representatives from local organizations that deal with mental and behavioral health spoke about their operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges they have been facing and ways their local leaders can help support their services.
The forum, live-streamed on the Cascade Community Healthcare Facebook page and on YouTube, was held from 3 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 2 and was moderated by Dr. Richard Stride with Cascade. The panel included Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund, Rep. Ed Orcutt, Rep-elect Peter Abbarno, Sen. John Braun and Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza.
The panelists spoke briefly about the behavioral health issues that are the main focus going into the upcoming legislative session.
Braun said he will be reviewing the 2019 plan for funding behavioral health services and determining where adjustments need to be made.
“More broadly, I’m really interested in what the shutdowns and other restrictions associated with COVID-19 are doing to our collective mental health situation,” Braun said.
Orcutt spoke about police reform and the recent discussion about sending mental health professionals into tense situations instead of police. He said he will be working to make sure mental health professionals are being sent into a safe situation.
Abbarno said he will be examining how the COVID-19 shutdowns have impacted children. Fund said the county has been focusing on medical benefits in the jail and the behavioral health issues created by the isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Snaza spoke about the partnership between Cascade and the Sheriff’s Department, saying that calling for a mental health professional when a person is in crisis has been beneficial.
Lewis County Public Health and Social Services Director J.P. Anderson said that as legislators discuss the funding for local public health organizations going forward, Lewis County Public Health should be able to maintain the same level of service around COVID-19.
“The behavioral health impacts of COVID can’t be overstated,” he said. “When we think about community wellness, this is a really profoundly impacting event that we’ve gone through that we need to recover from and we are going to do that by talking like we are right now, finding common ground and going forward.”
Anderson said that getting students back to school safely can be done by following best practices and working closely with superintendents.
Mindy Greenwood with Cascade Community Healthcare spoke about work being done toward the construction of a detox and inpatient facility and the need for more inpatient services in Lewis County.
The director at the Housing Resource Center, Ruth Gutierrez, has been working in housing services for 28 years and presented the challenges she has been facing when it comes to getting the chronically homeless housed. The Housing Resource Center operates a low barrier shelter, a family shelter and a single men and women shelter. The organization has been open and operational since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has housed 119 individuals since January.
Kris Camenzind, who works with Hope Alliance, said the funds needed to provide services have been impacted by the cancelation of their fundraiser due to COVID-19.
Hope Alliance conducted a one-day count to calculate how many domestic violence clients were served within a 24-hour period, Camenzind said. The count was conducted last year on Sept. 12 and it recorded 73 domestic violence clients needing services. She also noted that Lewis County has the highest number of child sexual assault cases per capita in the state.
Samantha Mitchell with the Youth Advocacy Center conducts child abuse investigations and interviews and sexual assault exams.
“Our numbers are up from last year. When we hit March we were up 41 percent and when we went into lockdown those numbers tailored off. Last year I interviewed 103 children and this year I am at 112 children and the year’s not over. Of those 112 children, 247 types of abuse were recognized during those interviews,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said that the cases she has seen come through her office during the COVID-19 pandemic have been the worst she has seen in her career.
“We’re just waiting for the tsunami to hit. As soon as these kids go back to school and have some sort of safe adult in their lives that they can disclose to again — it’s going to be catastrophic,” she said.
Mitchell said that congress is proposing a 41 percent cut to the Victim of Crimes Act funding that would shut down the Youth Advocacy Center.
“If anyone is interested in helping to reach out to our representatives to ask them not to make that budget cut it would greatly help. If they do make that cut it will be devastating to our program and I won’t be here next year,” she said.
Dr. Tre Normoyle, a psychologist with Valley View Health Center, said that they provide care to uninsured persons regardless of their ability to pay. In 2019, the health center cared for 25,717 patients — over 70 percent of those patients had Medicaid or Medicare.
Valley View’s mental health services are 100 percent virtual or over the phone, Normoyle said.
“Patients are definitely more distressed and we are seeing more with suicidal ideations,” she said.
Andrea Culletto with Twin Transit spoke about the program the public transit service has put in place to make it easier for Lewis County residents to get to doctor appointments and have access to all healthcare services. Twin Transit operates a program called LIFTT that provides transportation to individuals with ADA needs while also offering a “Dial-a-Ride Door-to-door” service called DARTT to pick up more vulnerable populations directly from their homes. More info about those programs can be found at www.twintransit.org/.
Dr. Kevin Caserta with Providence Centralia Hospital said that the hospital is serving about 40 COVID-19 patients which is their highest number they have experienced thus far.
“My ask to you as leaders in the county, is that you encourage our community to mask, to social distance, to avoid gatherings at this time so we can have economic health, physical health and mental health as well,” Caserta said.
Fund, the chair of the Great Rivers Administrative Service Organization (GRASHO) spoke about the state’s Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) which allows the courts to commit individuals to a behavioral health evaluation and treatment.
“The ITA costs are really taking over and we would like a good look at this statewide,” Fund said.
Trish Geist with Cascade Community Healthcare spoke about Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Expansion (CCBHC) grant that was awarded to the organization and how it will help provide crisis planning, more comprehensive care and support uninsured individuals.
The 7th Annual Legislative and Governmental Forum can be viewed in its entirety on Cascade Mental Health Care’s Youtube channel — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzMbLEB1Tvhyc9GVQw_W-ag.
