By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
ROCKFORD — A group of health care organizations, nonprofits and other institutions will join together to determine long-term and sustainable solutions to the community’s mental health needs.
Mayor Tom McNamara and Winnebago County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli held a news conference on Wednesday to announce the formation of the new advisory group. Over the next two months, that group will work to vet and define the biggest problem the Rockford region faces around mental and behavioral health. Then, it will spend about six months to create a concrete action plan.
“Time is of the essence for the residence of Winnebago County,” McNamara said from the news conference at City Hall. “Our lack of mental health services is having an impact far and wide.”
More health: ‘It smelled like a bonfire’: Air quality issues expected to linger in Rockford this week
About 27% of Winnebago County residents identified as having a behavioral health disorder, according to a survey by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. That compares to a 20% national rate. The county also has roughly double the state’s rate of drug overdose deaths, and mental health disorders are often found to be co-occurring with substance abuse, health officials say.
“We must work together — it’s imperative — to identify the gaps in the service that are delaying and preventing treatment for those who need it the most,” Chiarelli said. “By working together I’m confident in our leadership in our health systems that they will identify the problems causing these gaps in service and recommend long-term, sustainable solutions to meet the behavioral health needs of our community.”
advertisement
McNamara said the community has suffered from an overall lack of mental health providers since the state’s Singer Mental Health Center closed in 2012.
The community has made strides, McNamara said, including the approval of a half-cent mental health sales tax in March 2020 that has funded dozens of initiatives aimed at closing the gap in mental health services.
“We also know that we always need to do more,” McNamara said.
Paula Carynski, president of OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center, said there is a shortage of psychiatric beds and behavioral health providers here and across the country. The demand is expected to increase by 18% over the next 10 years.
“So we really need to get our arms around not only the current situation, but the expected growth around the needs of our citizens,” she said.
More news: Rockford region sees highest home sale totals in 9 months, latest data shows
OSF has 15 hospital systems and in the past year had more than 60,500 patients in the emergency room with mental health issues.
Carynski was at Wednesday’s news conference along with Travis Anderson, president and CEO of UW Health Northern Illinois, Dr. John Dorsey, the chief medical officer at Mercyhealth, the Winnebago County Mental Health Advisory Board and representatives of the other schools, nonprofits and health care organizations in the partnership.
“Community partnerships must be developed and leveraged to address the specific issue sand needs of people who are in need of these services,” Carynski said. “The bottom line is: Together we are better.”
Who’s in the advisory group?
The new mental health advisory group will include representatives from each of these organizations:
- City of Rockford
- Community Foundation of Northern Illinois
- Crusader Community Health
- Mercyhealth
- UI Health Mile Square Health Center
- National Alliance on Mental Illness
- OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center
- Rockford Fire Department
- Rockford Public Schools
- Rockford Regional Health Council
- Rosecrance
- University of Illinois College of Medicine – Rockford
- UW Health
- Winnebago County
- Winnebago County Mental Health Board/ Region 1 Planning Council
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas