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County Communicare active By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer  | Photo by Sue Watson
Getting info
Sheriff Kenny Dickerson (left) discusses inmate health management with Dr. Mike Roberts, director of Communicare. |
The
board of supervisors was informed about mental health and alcohol and
drug rehabilitation services provided by Communicare at a recent
meeting of the board. Mike Roberts, director of
Communicare which serves a seven-county district including Marshall,
provided an overview of services. These include services of
psychiatrists, nurses, counselors, case managers and secretaries and a
payroll of $404,330 per year, he said. Currently, 336 clients are on
the active case load with about 15 additional cases a month. People of
all ages are served. The operating budget for Marshall County
Communicare comes to $69,224 a year. The board of supervisors pays
$50,000 a year to help support the Communicare office in Marshall
County. Communicare operates as a non-profit. Roberts asked the board to think of Communicare when planning to build new county office facilities. The
office is located at 820 Highway 178 East, Holly Springs, with Megan
Taylor over the office. Dr. C.J. Tucker is Marshall County’s mental
health commissioner. Willie May Green is director of administrative
services and Dixie Church is clinical director. Communicare,
which operates Haven House, a substance abuse rehabilitation center for
men and women in Oxford, takes patients who have either insurance or
Medicare/Medicaid or who self pay on a sliding scale basis, but has
some monies to support those who do not have resources, Roberts said. “We
would like to have a new office and to have a day-treatment program for
adults, like we have in other counties,” Roberts said. “Patients stay
with them a half a day five days a week to try to prevent
hospitalizations and to get patients out of the house and functioning
better.” Roberts said other counties - Tate and
Calhoun - have built new offices for the Department of Human Services
and Communicare and these agencies pay rent until the loans are
retired. After that they pay those counties $200 a month as a
maintenance fee. “If you see you are going to do some public works, think of us,” Roberts said. “We need to have better space.” Communicare
acts as a bridge for patients from rural families after they leave a
state hospital, such as one in Tupelo. Once patients are stabilized
with medication and other services, they can be served locally by
Communicare and often avoid tendencies to relapse. Supervisor George Zinn III asked what the waiting list for Haven House looked like. Roberts
said there is hardly ever a waiting list at the facility which offers
30 days short-term rehabilitation. Stays can be extended longer. Communicare
services are received on a voluntary basis, but the chancery court can
send a patient to a state hospital facility. In those cases, the
patient is committed by the family of the patient. The waiting list can
be lengthy at a state hospital and in these cases, the involuntarily
committed patient has to wait in the county jail until a room is
available in Whitfield. After Roberts completed
his presentation, sheriff Kenny Dickerson consulted the doctor on how
to obtain services for sick inmates who need help and are out of jail
awaiting their court date. Dickerson said it is a
tragedy for a person who has committed a felony to not have access to
mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation while they await their
court date. To inquire about Communicare, call 1-662-252-4140 in Holly Springs. |
