New clinic to offer mental health, family services in Caroline

FEDERALSBURG - The Caroline County Health Department recently celebrated the opening of a new facility in Federalsburg, where it will offer mental health, Healthy Family and family planning services.

A ribbon-cutting was held Tuesday, Oct. 27, exactly one week before the facility, in the Nuttle building at 332 N. Main St., was set to start accepting patients, Tuesday, Nov. 3. The mental health clinic will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday. Evening hours will be available by appointment Tuesdays and Thursdays. Services offered include individual, family and group therapy, for adults and children, as well as psychological evaluations and medication management.

Medicaid, Medicare and Tri-Care insurance will be accepted, and uninsured patients will be charged on a sliding scale.

Patients with private insurance can use the services, but they will have to request reimbursement from their insurance companies.

"Mental health is pretty basic to the health of an individual," said Mike Campbell, clinical director for the Caroline County Mental Health Clinic. "It's important to have resource availability for people whose mental health has somehow taken a hit, or have a mental illness."

The health department's Healthy Families program, which provides in-home visits for families with infants from birth to 3 months, will operate out of the Federalsburg facility five days a week, Campbell said.

Family planning services through the health department, which provides education, exams, testing and contraception, will be available in the Federalsburg facility one to two days a week, Campbell said.

The remodeling of the building and a large chunk of the office's operating budget were made possible by a Health Enterprise Zone grant, from the Maryland Health Resource Commission. The grant went to Dorchester County, Campbell said, which was able to bring in Federalsburg, identified as needing mental health services.

The grant is already paying for a full-time child therapist in nearby elementary, middle and high schools, Campbell said. Now that the Federalsburg office is open, the grant will also pay for an adult therapist and a clinician.

Campbell said the grant will cover those salaries for about 18 months. By that time, the hope is, the facility is bringing in enough insurance reimbursements and fees to break even and continue operating.

Campbell said the new facility, which has been in the works for about two and a half years, will improve the mental health of the surrounding community. "Before, people had to travel to Denton, Cambridge or Easton," Campbell said. "Hopefully, having this here has a 'rock dropped in the pond' effect, where it ripples out through the community. It's about improving relationships."

Bill Beall, who served as Federalsburg's mayor and a member of a Caroline County health care access task force through the planning process, said the new facility serves a critical need for town residents, in addition to providing eight new professional jobs.

"It's been a long time coming," Beall said. "Federalsburg is so grateful to (Health Department Director) Dr. Leland Spencer and Mike Campbell for creating a perfect environment that will meet so many needs."

Caroline County Commission President Larry Porter, also a member of the health care access task force, said further improving access to mental health care specifi-cally is a big future goal.

"We're finding out mental health is a critical part of overall health care access for the county," Porter said. "This is a good day."

Diane Lane, executive director of Chesapeake Voyagers Inc., an Easton-based agency that offers peer support groups to Mid-Shore residents, said she is in discussions with Campbell to establish a regular meeting at the Federalsburg facility in the near future.

For more information, contact the Federalsburg facility at 410-479-0511.