LEGISLATION
AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
A meeting of the Chippewa County Board of
Commissioners’ Legislation and Natural Resources Committee was held on Tuesday,
February 10, 2004 at the office of State Representative Scott Shackleton on the
14th floor of the Anderson Building in Lansing, Michigan. Chairman Timmer called the meeting to order
at 9:30 a.m. with a quorum present.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Richard Timmer, Chairman, Rita Dale and Earl
Kay
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
OTHER
COMMISSIONERS
PRESENT: Don Cooper and James Moore
OTHERS PRESENT: Tim Dolehanty, County Controller, Scott
Shackleton, State Representative, Erin Bradford, Assistant to Senator Jason
Allen, Orlene Christie, Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), Mark
Keilhorn, (MDCH), and Manfred Tatzmann, MDCH
At the request of Chairman
Timmer, County Controller Tim Dolehanty reviewed a number of issues concerning
mental health services provided to Chippewa County residents. He specifically identified issues discussed
at the February 2 meeting of the Legislation and Natural Resources Committee.
Mark Keilhorn of the
Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) reviewed the history of the
Hiawatha Behavioral Mental Health Authority (HBH) including its formation and
current board structure. The Chairman
advised Mr. Keilhorn that it would not be necessary to review the history of
HBH, and that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss options for providing
the best possible mental health service to County citizens.
Mr. Keilhorn stated 70% of
the current community mental health budget is supported by Medicaid dollars. He
said Chippewa County would never meet minimum criteria for receiving Medicaid
funds, such as the minimum threshold of 20,000 persons eligible to receive
Medicaid. Mr. Keilhorn identified
Pathways, located in Marquette, as the Medicaid agent for the entire Upper
Peninsula. As the recognized Medicaid
agent, he said Pathways would most likely contract with HBH for Medicaid
services, and the County would be required to pay an additional 30% for
Medicaid services currently received.
Mr. Keilhorn said there are
currently too many community mental health agencies in the state to be
economically viable. If Chippewa County
formed its own agency, he said the County would be subject to legislative
requirements that the new agency be fully functional and operational before
state accreditation could be granted.
Mr. Keilhorn said this requirement would result in the County being
responsible for 100% of the funding for a new agency for a minimum of six to
ten weeks before any state funding would be provided.
In response to questions
posed by Commissioner Cooper, Mr. Keilhorn defined fully operational as meaning
compliance with the staff and patient service components of the Mental Health
Code. He acknowledged that the County
could comply with these requirements at a cost considerably less than the $7
million cited by HBH officials. Mr.
Keilhorn added that the cost of a computer system compliant with all state and
federal requirements would exceed $250,000.
Commissioner Cooper noted that the County’s AS400 server handled all HBH
needs in the past, and Mr. Keilhorn agreed that system could probably meet
current demands as well.
Mr. Keilhorn suggested the
only other option for providing mental health services to Chippewa County
residents is acceptance into another CMH agency. Mr. Dolehanty reported that the two neighboring CMH providers
informally stated they were not interested in adding Chippewa County to their
respective coverage areas. Commissioner Cooper stated his belief that HBH
personnel have cautioned neighboring CMH providers against accepting Chippewa
County as a member of their respective organizations.
Commissioner Kay observed
that the elected members of the County Board are assigned the responsibility of
seeing that adequate mental health services are provided to county citizens,
and have found the services provided to patients through the current system to
be insufficient. Mr. Keilhorn advised
commissioners to obtain a written release from individuals to allow access to
patient records, and that these records be used to identify treatment
shortcomings. Mr. Dolehanty opined that
Mr. Keilhorn’s suggestion seemed contradictory to the HBH anti-stigma program
goals. Commissioner Kay wondered if the
1,000-plus petition signatures gathered in 2002 would be sufficient to convince
state officials of the community’s opinion of mental health services now
provided. Mr. Keilhorn stated he was
not aware of the petition.
Responding to Mr. Keilhorn’s
request for a specific example, Commissioner Kay reviewed well-publicized
incidents involving the crisis hotline.
Manfred Tatzmann of MDCH said the
County would have to work through the private contractor of this service in
order to voice concerns. He described
this as an independent hotline funded by many agencies. Commissioner Kay asked why an HBH employee
could not answer requests for help received over this hotline. Mr. Keilhorn stated HBH could respond if it
chose to fund such a service.
Mr. Dolehanty asked about funding for programs that
exceed minimum standards established by the state. Mr. Keilhorn said HBH could provide additional services, but the
state would not provide funding for services that exceed minimum
standards. Mr. Keilhorn added that
county match dollars could be used for this purpose.
Mr. Dolehanty asked whether distribution of funds to
employees as bonus pay was consistent with the State Constitution, and whether
state funds could be used for that purpose.
Mr. Keilhorn said he was unaware of the provisions of the State
Constitution, but state funds could not be used to pay for employee
bonuses. In response to further
questions, Mr. Keilhorn said only county funds could be used to pay employee
bonuses, and that these funds could also be used to supplement mental health
services like an improved crisis hotline.
Chairman Timmer summarized
the statements of Mr. Keilhorn as meaning there is no relief available to
County citizens from the way the local mental health system is currently
run. The Chairman described the current
system as one that is more likely to push people away and label them as
discontents rather than one poised to provide needed services. He spoke of the secrecy and divisiveness
practiced by HBH, explaining how this posture worked against the goal of
providing mental health services to those County residents who need them.
Commissioner Dale asked
Representative Shackleton about the possibility of a change in legislation that
would require proportionate representation on the CMH board. Representative Shackleton said state the
legislation could be changed, but the result would not change the structure of
the HBH board. He went on to explain
that the only remedy available to the County was as described in the Attorney
General Opinion.
Chairman Timmer called on
the state officials present, along with Representative Shackleton, to relay the
concerns expressed by the County to officials within MDCH and HBH in an effort
to improve the mental health system. He
added that the County would like to work with HBH and MDCH toward that goal.
Adjourn
Chairman Timmer declared the meeting adjourned at
10:50 a.m.
__________________________________ __________________________________
Timothy J.
Dolehanty, AICP, Recorder Richard
Timmer, Committee Chairman