In their most recent meeting, the Bond County Board of Health voted unanimously to reduce psychiatric services and staff hours in the health department’s mental health program if, by their August meeting, the mental health program is not yet operating at a monthly deficit of $7,500 or better.
Bond County Health Department Administrator Sean Eifert told WGEL the mental health program at the health department has incurred approximately $500,000 in debt since around 2013. He said the State of Illinois used to provide grant funding to subsidize those services and many things about reimbursement have changed.
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Eifert stressed the Board of Health sees tremendous value in the mental health services provided by the department. He also noted this is not a unique issue to Bond County. He said agencies all over the state have cut back on their services.
In their May meeting, Eifert updated the board on discussions he has been in with the Clinton County Health Department Administrator about a possible collaboration. He said the Clinton County department is adding space for mental health services in their new building and he hopes a collaboration could generate some revenue for the Bond County program. He also pointed out the staff of the Bond County Health Department are working to improve revenue and lower the cost of doing business.
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Eifert said these actions aren’t the end of the road and the health department would offer mental health services as long as they’re open, just possibly in a different manner.
