HomeMy WebLinkAbout190227 - Minutes, Mental Health AuthWashington County Mental Health Authority
Board of Director's Meeting Minutes
Date: February 27, 2019 @ 12:00 p.m.
Location: 80 W. Baltimore Street, Hagerstown, MD
Board Members:
Present: E. Branthaver, R. Clutz, Jr; J. Lowery, J. Matheny, K. Mollo, C. Pauley, K Powderly, T.
Ryan
Planned Absence: R. Bratcher
Absent: C. Munson
Guests:
Quorum present: Yes
WCMHA Staff Present: R. Rock, S. Norberg, B. Kerbs, L. Cole
Ex -Officio Member: J. Cline
Proceedings:
Board President Jennifer Lowery called meeting to order at 12:00 PM.
Approval of Minutes:
➢ The members present reviewed the January meeting minutes. A motion was made by C.
Pauley to approve the minutes and E. Branthaver seconded it. All members present
approved the motion.
Finance Committee Report by S. Norberg:
➢ The board received the financial report which included expenditures through January 31,
2019. A couple of grants show that there are unspent funds but nothing out of the ordinary
and are expected to be caught by the end of the fiscal year. The administrative expenses are
on track to be spent by the end of the year.
Executive Director Report by R. Rock:
➢ Legislation was dropped to change the administration of Medicaid from an Administrative
Service Organization (ASO) to Managed Care Organization (MCO). Under the current ASO
model, it has been a fairly simple process for providers to get services approved for an
individual by making a request to the ASO. If this current legislation is enacted, a provider
will have to contact multiple MCOs to obtain approvals from 9 separate MCOs and the
administrative burden to a provider will increase dramatically. To counteract this bill, two
other bills have been initiated that will abolish the ASO and propose a MCO model that is
less cumbersome but will pass some risk for quality to the providers. I will forward
information to the Board Directors to advocate against the current MCO bill as it was
proposed and would appreciate any advocacy that is provided.
➢ We had our conference call with BHA regarding our FY 2020 Mental Health Plan.
There were some specific areas where additional information was requested but
overall the document was accepted.
➢ Update on integration as to the local impact. I met with Pippa McCullough, the
Director of the Frederick Co. CSA. Through a community -wide process, it has been
recommended that Frederick CSA be moved under the direction of the Frederick
County Health Department. The basis for the merger was that behavioral health
issues are viewed as a public health issue and that management and interventions fall
under the direction of the local health department. This thinking is greatly affected by
the current opioid crisis and the fact that the current influx of funds for services to
address that crisis are coming through the health departments. I met with Earl Stoner
the local health officer for Washington County to discuss integration of behavioral
health services in Washington County and we think it is wise to wait and see what
happens to the current bill before the legislators and then come back together to
discuss a process for the community to participate in the design of the local
authority's structure.
➢ Grants update — some of our current unspent funds will be reallocated at the end of
the fiscal year. This may affect some employees of the current vendor so I will not
name that program specifically. I am currently working with their director and BHA
for a new program where the current employees could be used.
Director of Children & Adolescents — Brooke Kerbs
➢ The Mobile Crisis Stabilization Service grant has been opened to competitive bids
from across the State. We currently get $105,080 for that service and that money
comes from the Department of Human Resources but flows through the Behavioral
Health Administration and then is included in our services grant. That gran has been
active for 10 years and Washington County was one of 9 counties across the State for
that were initially selected for this project. Over the past nine years this grant has
provided for an individual who responds to crisis calls for children up to the age of 18
in their home, community or school. We have been notified that that money will now
be competitive and we will need to submit a proposal. In collaboration with the
Department of Social Services, a proposal was developed with additional partnerships
to provide services in the new Behavioral Health Walk-in Center to serve adults as
well as children. The amount requested was increased a little bit to include an
individual to respond to children and families as they walk in.
New Business
➢ The board members were asked to complete the Financial Disclosure statements for
the county. If you would like me to submit a written copy, please return your
completed document to me.
Meeting adjourned at 12:40 pm
The next meeting is scheduled for April 24, 2019.
Minutes submitted by:
M &Jack4o-w
03/22/19
Marcie Jackson, Secretary Date