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2016 YEAR in review: Little help for mental health

Citrus County Chronicle - 12/28/2016

The lack of mental health treatment facilities in Citrus County was identified as a major problem by health authorities heading into 2016, but despite that, the county made few inroads this year to improve conditions for residents suffering from mental distress.

In November, the Centers, the nonprofit agency in Lecanto that helps those facing mental or substance abuse problems, was rebuffed by the state in its bid to build a central receiving facility that would have provided 24-7 acute treatment. It would have also relieved the increasing number of Baker Act patients currently being taken to Ocala or Brooksville. The sheriff's office transports those involuntary patients and decreases their presence in the county.

Compounding the problem were the layoffs of 28 Centers employees due to funding cutbacks. Four of those layoffs were in Citrus County.

The ratio of the county's population to the number of mental health providers in Citrus: 2,176 to 1. That compares to a ratio of 744 to 1 in the state as a whole. The Florida Department of Health shows Citrus County had 105 suicides from 2013-15, the fifth highest rate in the state.

That is not acceptable, said Dr. Parmanand Gurnani, an Inverness psychiatrist. Gurnani told the Chronicle in August that if he was to assign a letter grade to where Citrus County sits in regard to other counties in Florida for mental health service, he would give it a solid "C."

And while depression is the single biggest mental health issue facing Citrus County today, the whole gamut of anxiety-related illnesses are close behind, Gurnani said.

There was one notable piece of good news this year: The Centers' Lecanto facility debuted its Oasis program, which helps single mothers kick drug and alcohol dependency to better care for their children.

The comprehensive 2015 Community Health Assessment (CHA) report concluded that "if community partners are able to come together to make sweeping changes toward better mental health and substance abuse care in Citrus County, it will have a considerably large impact on the health and well-being of Citrus County citizens."

To that end, The Centers' recently hired spokeswoman, Ronda Hemminger Evan, plans to spend 2017 speaking at community functions and schools and conduct outreach programs to publicize the need for increased mental health care.

"Part of my role is to bring together resources and figure out how to tackle the issues facing Citrus County," Evan said.

Despite the shortcomings last year, Evan is optimistic about 2017. The Centers, she said, plans to reapply for a state grant to open up a receiving facility.

Filling the mental health void in Citrus County, she said, is a process "and we're just beginning."

"We are hoping, in 2017, to be able to tackle some of the issues that have to do with mental health and substance abuse," she said.

Contact Chronicle reporter Michael D. Bates at 352-563-5660, mbates@chronicleonline.com or via Twitter @mdbchronicle.