Mental Health Treatment Working in South East Iowa

August 9, 2016

Wednesday June 29th Mt Pleasant News headline on the bottom of front page states “Berndt says mental health treatment program working.” It goes on to discuss how Hillcrest Family Services has been providing mental health services for over a year in the Henry County Health Center Emergency Room.  The numbers indicate that services have been effective and one can conclude it has helped decrease patients further encounters with law enforcement. While this article doesn’t specifically name Kristin Helm as the champion for this project, I would like to give Kristin a big pat on the back.  Before I came to Hillcrest, I was called on more than once to accompany clients to local ER’s in this area and it was a horrible experience without anyone available for mental health needs.  Kristin’s work has made a difference! We also should recognize Chris Betsworth as he is the Crisis Coordinator and has done an outstanding job with this.  I know all the good that our Crisis Team does in and out of the hospital. It’s nice to see that others outside of Hillcrest have noticed as well.

– Denise Woods, South East IHH Care Coordinator