Communicare Could Add Day-Treatment Program in Yalobusha

By David Howell
Editor

COFFEEVILLE – Dr. Michael Roberts updated supervisors on the services provided by  Communicare at a recessed meeting held July 20 in Coffeeville. He is the clinical psychology physician in charge of the facility, a public non-profit organization that provides mental health treatment for patients in seven northeastern Mississippi counties including Yalobusha.

    The facility uses a sliding scale to assess fees charged to patients. The scale is based on the patient’s income, health insurance and possible Medicare and Medicaid benefits, according to Dr. Roberts.

“Because we get your money and other funds, we are able to do that,” Dr. Roberts explained.         

Currently the county appropriates $19,600 annually for the facility.

The organization employs nine full time people and four part-time workers in Yalobusha County, providing a payroll of $360,000 annually.

Dr. Roberts also explained that counselors are also employed full-time at both Coffeeville and Water Valley School Districts.

After providing a basic overview of Communicare’s services, Dr. Roberts next told county officials that he would like to add an additional service in the county.

“We would like to start a day-treatment program,” he reported.

“There are a lot of people who aren’t going to get better or stay doing well seeing their doctor once a week,” Dr. Roberts explained.

This intense program allows the patient to come in and receive medical treatment four to five hours every day for months.

“It is an alternative for having them in the hospital,” Dr. Roberts continued.

“I am on the lookout for some kind of space,” Dr. Roberts told supervisors. The program could serve 12 to 15 mental patients, and would employee two additional staff members.

“We will work on your request and see what we can come up with,” Board President Amos Sims responded.

Other business discussed during the recessed meeting included:

• Approved the sale of less than eight-hundredths of an acre to El Charrito restaurant in Water Valley. The property, which is located north of the railroad street restaurant, is not being used by the county.

The extra land will allow for an expansion, according to restaurant operators who approached county officials earlier this month. Supervisors set the price for the land at $200.

• Heard an update that the county’s employee health insurance premium would likely increase next year.

Alan Tanquill, who represents the county with its health insurance, reported the loss ratio for the county’s medical program is running at about 125 percent.

“We probably would be looking at a 20 percent rate adjustment,” Tanquill explained.