Troubled MS Coast mental health agency won’t survive on its own. Who’s taking over?
The agency that provides a wide-array of mental health services on the Coast is not going to survive.
Instead, member counties — Harrison, Hancock and Stone — have agreed that Pine Belt Mental Health Resources, based in Hattiesburg, will take over the operations of Gulfport-based Gulf Coast Mental Health Center.
The mental health centers are set up to serve 13 regions across the state. GCMHC, the Region 13 provider, will now become part of Region 12, which currently serves 10 counties.
GCMHC almost collapsed financially in August 2019, but the state Department of Mental Health and member counties stepped in, attempting to shore up the critical agency until it could straighten out financial issues, including insurance billing.
Employees from Pine Belt came to Gulfport to assist GCMHC employees trying to straighten out the financial problems.
Harrison County, the biggest local funder, spent $2.8 million on the agency over the course of a year. The contract with Pine Belt will cost Harrison County $2.1 million a year, county attorney Tim Holleman said.
Pearl River County transferred services from GCMHC to Pine Belt after the financial problems were announced.
“We never did see Region 13 make a comeback,” said Harrison County Supervisor Marlin Ladner, who started attending GCMHC commission meetings to see if the agency could get back on track. “It was costing us more. We were having to subsidize it monthly. The revenue never came in.”
Holleman said clients should not notice an interruption in services, but he expects them to improve under Pine Belt. Pine Belt will be in charge of mental health services by Feb. 1 after a transition period.
Pine Belt has agreed to interview current GCMHC employees for jobs. GCMHC currently has about 175 employees, although some positions are vacant.
Services provided by the mental health centers include counseling, inpatient crisis stabilization, substance abuse treatment, case management for community residents with psychiatric disorders, and an array of support for children with adjustment, behavioral and learning problems.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
