by Juergen Korbanka, Ph.D. and Executive Director
The start of the legislative session, the passing of the holiday season, and the snowy wintery atmosphere allow us a great opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of 2015 and plan for 2016.
Wasatch Mental Health increased the number of Utah and Wasatch County residents served from 8,922 in FY 2014 to 9,634 in FY 2015. This is an 8% increase and marks the twelfth consecutive year where we experienced an increase in the number of clients served. The total number of client admissions rose slightly to 5,767.
2015 marks the sixth consecutive year that our cost per client has decreased while we have maintained excellent clinical outcomes.
WMH’s commitment to provide services for the uninsured residents of Utah and Wasatch County remains strong. This year, we provided over $1.6 million worth of services to un- and underinsured individuals (an about 15% increase from FY 2014).
Towards the end of our fiscal year, we reorganized our Adult Services Division to better coordinate care, to improve access to services, and to facilitate compliance with accreditation standards for our Clubhouse.
With the start of the school year, we were able to add a fifth classroom to our Giant Steps Autism pre-school program, thereby increasing the service capacity by 25%.
Increased efforts to be active in the community have led to participation in efforts to prevent Elder and Vulnerable population abuse. Similarly, Wasatch Mental Health has been part of a five state pilot program to work towards “Zero Suicide.” Staff members have also participated in local suicide prevention efforts and in postvention activities.
Within the state, we have been selected as one of the pilot sites to implement the Systems of Care program, a comprehensive multi-agency approach to help youth who are seriously at risk with complex problems and coordinate services between all involved agencies
A newly developed and significantly enhanced interactive agency website provides information about our programs and serves as a resource for the community (www.wasatch.org). Additionally, WMH has created a Facebook page, an agency blog, and is present on Twitter.
Goals for 2016 include breaking ground for an office building in Payson allowing us to increase access to services in the Southern part of the county. We look forward to co-locate with allied agencies and improve access and coordination of services
We also hope to continue our collaborative efforts with the Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) along the Wasatch Front to integrate care and to provide a seamless service delivery system.
The Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), facilitating individuals transitioning from jail to the community, is geared towards reducing recidivism. This collaborative effort will lead to us working much closer with the local jail and criminal justice system.
Looking back to the many achievements we are able to celebrate, we look forward to an equally successful 2016.