Mental health center official wary of state's budget woes
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
WATERVILLE — Every day Kennebec Valley Mental Health Center Interim CEO Thomas McAdam receives e-mails about potential changes in programs or funding that could effect his bottom line.
And while it is impossible to say how the state's fiscal problems will effect the nonprofit entity, its 200 employees or the more than 6,000 people it serves every year in Kennebec and Somerset counties, one thing does seem certain.
"We are probably going to have to manage with less. We don't know how much less," he said.
McAdam, chief operating officer for the past two years, took over from former Chief Executive Officer Morna Pederson-Rambo earlier this month. While he faces a challenging fiscal climate, he said that the center is well positioned to cope.
Over the past two years, the center has driven up revenues and pushed expenses down through a performance improvement program that has enhanced billing and internal efficiencies.
During the 2001-02 fiscal year, overhead expenses dropped almost 9 percent and total revenue rose 14 percent.
A restructuring planned for later this year would split the center into three separate but linked entities specializing in providing mental health services, developing and maintaining facilities and fund raising. A central administrative corporation would administer the three entities.
The idea behind the restructuring is to create more flexible, specialized entities that are better able to identify opportunities and respond to change, according to Michael Sirota, development director.
While those changes were planned long before the state's budget crisis, looming financial challenges make them all the more timely, according to Sirota.
Gov. John E. Baldacci has proposed health care reforms that call for covering uninsured Mainers but also widespread changes in how medical services are provided.
Then there are the state budget cuts. The Center receives most of its revenues from the state in the form of grants or reimbursement for services.
Finally, Baldacci has called for combining the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services and the Department of Human Services. This could also have implications for the center, which receives Medicaid funding through the Department of Human Services.
The impact of the changes remains unknown but for health service providers, the trend is toward a more difficult environment.
A particular concern is the fate of state grant funds that provide a sort of safety net for uninsured people.
McAdam said the Center has not laid off employees and he does not expect layoffs to be necessary. In fact, the center is adding services to meet the needs of its patients.
Over the past 2 1/2 years, the number of patients receiving services from the Center's medication clinics has increased by about 20 percent.
McAdam said the center is also adding two new child psychiatrists this summer, doubling the number of psychiatrists it has specializing in the treatment of children and adolescents.
The center is also changing the way it provides services, providing more in schools and homes and focusing more services in the Skowhegan area where there is a perceived need.
Alan Crowell — 474-9534, Ext. 342
acrowell@centralmaine.com