Mental health center gets funding

Unpaid leave at a financially strapped Augusta mental health center was averted after Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue came up with $900,000 to tide the center over, officials said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Have a thought? Go to the Forums or Chat.

Subscribe  E-mail this story  Write a letter to the Editor  Printer-friendly version  Get news on your PDA  Get e-mail headlines

"We don't have to look at furloughs. We don't have to look at cutting services. That will get us through," said Rep. Sue. Burmeister, R-Augusta.

She and other members of the local delegation had been lobbying for funds to cover a $900,000 deficit at the Community Mental Health Center of East Central Georgia by the end of the fiscal year June 30. Georgia Department of Human Resources Commissioner Jim Martin also appealed for the funds.

Officials at the Augusta center have blamed former administrators, fired earlier this year, for running up what was originally a $2 million deficit, in part through lucrative contracts with outside vendors who had ties to them. The center has since canceled a number of those contracts and now handles its own billing and pharmacy services again.

The center has been under investigation by the state since January after allegations of misconduct by the former administrators were made by an employee who was subsequently fired. The recovery has been impressive, Mrs. Burmeister said.

"With the turnaround and what they've accomplished here in just five months' time, that was a good track record to speak about," she said.

The money caps a tumultuous time for the center's current leaders, said Nancy Williamson, the chairwoman of the board that oversees the center.

"I feel like God put us in charge of this ship and we went through a hurricane, but I promised him if he got us through it we would put together a well-run center out there," she said. "I would do everything in my power to put it back together the way it was supposed to be for the community."

The center still faces cuts, including an estimated $1 million cut in Medicaid funding alone next year. But just getting to next year intact will be a relief, Dr. Williamson said.

"If we can live through June, there will be budget cuts, but at least we know what we're playing with," she said. "We know what's ahead, and - at least given the information - we can deal with it."

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tomc@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Saturday, June 7, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle