Jeff Eads of Partners Behavioral Health Management briefed the Surry County Board of Commissioners on changes to his organization and explained that the organization is in transition as its CEO Rhett Melton is approaching retirement on July 1.
That day will also be the launch North Carolina’s new Tailored Care Management plan which Eads said will be when Partners will expand from its role of “being a manager of behavioral health services, which is inclusive of mental health, substance use disorders, and intellectual/developmental disabilities.”
“Now, for those patients we will also be managing their physical health component and pharmacy. So, that is quite different and is part of the whole person integrated care model,” he said.
“This is pivotal time for us because this is fundamental shift, a totally different way of doing business for us. We’re used to being mental health and substance abuse folks in the community, and now we’re moving into the person’s physical health. Our focus is going to be more about customized support and enhanced care management, as well as prevention,” Eads explained.
“This is moving us away from a fee-for-service model and one that is more based on outcomes and quality,” he said.
He said that the number of providers of these types of integrated services has been reduced in recent years. “The Local Management Entity/ Managed Care Organization system in North Carolina has once again consolidated and shrunk. We are now down to four entities like Partners across the state,” he said.
Those include Vaya Health in the West, Partners, Alliance Behavioral Healthcare, and also Trillium Heath Resources which he said alone encompasses 47 of 100. Trillium also absorbed the Sandhills Center and Eastpointe Human Services in the down Eastern reaches of the state, “So, those are no more, and they have merged with Trillium.”
That consolidation is somewhat puzzling to Eads who said, “It’s crazy, there used to be one of these in every county — the mental health authority — and now there are four across the state.”
“The state has wanted to put together a statewide entity to help with some of the problems we have been running into with foster kids and those in DSS custody. They want to form a single statewide Medicaid managed care plan that will provide integrated health care services regardless of geographic location,” he explained.
Partners in partnership with Vaya have submitted an application to take part, he said. “We’re hoping this is going to provide better consistency, access to care, more efficient administration, improved data management, and a simplified experience for local DSS and the families,” he said.
Commissioner Eddie Harris said there have been so many changes with Partners that it can be hard to keep up with and wanted to know if this would cause staffing changes for Partners in Elkin.
“Not due to this,” Eads said. Post-pandemic, Partners has already altered its business model such as eliminating a 24/7 call center in Elkin that could not be staffed during COVID.
Many jobs moved remotely and have not come back, but that has not affected productivity, Eads said. He reiterated that jobs requiring face-to-face meetings or visits are still staffed by local people, “That cannot be done telephonically.”
He sounded a warning call that the commissioners have heard before, there are not enough people coming in to fill vacancies left by retirement or staff poached by higher waged jobs. “What we are seeing is a reverse trend in the number of people being trained to do this profession, so its slim pickings.”
In other action, the board:
- Reappointed Penny Harrison as the county’s tax administrator. This is a two-year appointment for Harrison which will run through the end of fiscal year 2025-2026.
- Gave permission for the county to issue a Request for Qualifications for consultation services regarding a fire service study. This matter was discussed by the commissioners during their budget planning retreat in Pinnacle in February and stems from the ongoing conversation about the lack of volunteer firefighters.
According to the RFQ, Surry County is seeking a fire service consultant experienced in the management and operations of rural fire service structure to undertake and organizational, effectiveness, and overall efficiency study on the state of the county’s current volunteer fire service model and provide recommendations on how best to move forward.
The commissioners want the consultant to provide some guidance on the prudence of the current volunteer fire model and whether or not adding paid staff to more fire stations may be a solution.
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