Creating Change

Bert Nash CEO Patrick Schmitz, speaking at the 2019 Celebrate Bert Nash breakfast:

When I came here over two years ago, I expected there would be changes and that I would be part of creating some of them. I would have never foreseen the significant number of professional and personal ones I would go through.

At the Bert Nash Center, we’ve been involved in creating change in how we deliver services. I am happy to report we’ve made significant progress.

This past year we Responded to the Needs of our community by increasing our Open Access hours from 3 hours per day to 8 hours per day, which is a 166% increase in available time for our community for that critical first appointment on their journey toward recovery. On top of that, we increased our hours of operation so that we are open earlier in the day and later into the evening to further increase access.

We Responded to the Needs of our community by recruiting additional psychiatric providers here at the Bert Nash Center and through our community partnerships. These additional providers, along with the introduction of Right Time Care, have allowed us to dramatically shorten wait times.

Previously, at Bert Nash, it literally took at best several weeks and all too often nearly 6 months to get into the first visit with a psychiatric provider. Now, our psychiatric services are routinely available on a same day or next day basis and within 3-5 days at the longest.

We expanded how we restore lives with the addition of WRAP Specialists in Eudora, Baldwin City and Lecompton.

We continued our mission of Building a Healthy Community when we broke ground on the first phase of the Treatment and Recovery Campus of Douglas County, with construction beginning on Transitions. Transitions is our new transitional housing facility and program designed to provide those in need safe, affordable and stable housing to support them in the restoration of their life.

Additionally, we have made significant progress on bringing the voices of those with lived experience into the service arena with the addition of 11 new Peer Support Specialists through the Douglas County Peer Fellows program.

We are extremely honored to be part of this community collaboration, made possible by Douglas County, as we place these new Peer Fellows at Lawrence Public Library, the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, and LMH Health’s Emergency Department.

Let me just say how grateful I am that we have a caring community that supports mental health services and the changes we’ve made. I am grateful to our collaborative and supportive agency partners who join us in delivering these critical services.

Lastly, I want to extend a heartfelt “ThankYou” to all of you, and especially our Celebrate Bert Nash Society Members, who helped us Create Change this past year.

Thank you all for supporting us.