2019 year in review: Innovation, accomplishment, service
Highland Rivers Health serves 12 counties in northwest Georgia, providing treatment, support and recovery services for individuals with mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
We operate 10 outpatient clinics as well as crisis units, peer programs, disability services, residential treatment programs and much more, providing services that are affordable and close-to-home for people living throughout our service area.
In addition, Highland Rivers partners with schools, hospitals, community agencies, law enforcement agencies, and courts across northwest Georgia to ensure behavioral health services are available in a variety of community settings to meet people where they are.
As 2019 comes to an end, I wanted to share some of Highland Rivers many activities that demonstrate the broad scope of our services and community involvement, and how we continually work to enhance our services. During 2019, Highland Rivers Health:
Created a 10-bed transitional unit to support individuals who are ready to transition to a community setting but do not have necessary aftercare services in place to be discharged, through the renovation of part of our facility on Wateroak Drive in Cedartown. We also established a 10-bed women’s halfway house by renovating a portion of our Crisis Stabilization Unit in Rome.
Developed an Enhanced Crisis Respite Apartment (ECRA) program in Rome to provide temporary housing for individuals recently released from a crisis stabilization unit, hospital or jail, who are also experiencing homelessness. The apartments can serve up to six persons at a time and are staffed seven days a week.
Secured a federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant to establish the North Georgia Opioid Prevention and Education Network in partnership with Mercer University.
Partnered with hospitals in Gordon and Murray counties to provide assessments for patients presenting at their emergency departments with behavioral health needs, as we have done for the past several years with Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome.
Continued expanding APEX services to reach more students in more local schools, while also appointing three new child and adolescent program managers as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance services for children, adolescents and families.
In ongoing partnerships with local county governments, continued providing mental health services in the adult detention facilities in Gilmer and Paulding counties.
Implemented a program in which medication might be used to support individuals receiving treatment for opioid addiction. Through this program, Highland Rivers may prescribe Subutex, Suboxone or Vivitrol when clinically appropriate as part of the individual’s recovery plan.
Hosted Operation Gratitude, a recovery celebration for veterans in Cherokee County who are receiving services from Highland Rivers, and their families, at which we also recognized Judge Dee Morris who started the Cherokee Veterans Court.
Translated the Highland Rivers Health website into Spanish in order to make information about our agency’s services accessible to Spanish speaking members of our communities; the Spanish site can be found at http://highladrivershealth.com/es/.
Produced four short videos about Highland Rivers with the theme “Recovery is the Heart of Highland Rivers Health.” The videos feature interviews with individuals, children, families and veterans who have received services from the agency, and will be available on our website in early 2020.
Created a supporting organization for our agency called the Highland Rivers Foundation and organized the first official fundraiser, the Tennis Carnival and Court Couture Ball, which raised more than $10,000 for the foundation to support the Highland Rivers’ programs and services.
Of course, this list only scratches the surface of everything we did, and continue to do, to improve the quality of life for the individuals and communities we serve. Highland Rivers Health is proud to be part of so many communities in northwest Georgia, and we look forward to building on these achievements in 2020.