The Angelina County Local Advisory Board of the Rural East Texas Health Network (RETHN) recently met at Woodland Heights Hospital. Board members reviewed admissions data for Burke’s regional Mental Health Emergency Center, as well as discussed ways to make improvements to the mental health emergency delivery system for Angelina County.
The RETHN was established in 2006 by Burke in response to the tremendous need within our rural communities for a strategic plan/infrastructure to improve the mental health delivery system for our region. The purpose of the RETHN is to maintain a line of communication between stakeholders within communities; maintain communication between counties and the local mental health provider; promote education and awareness about issues concerning the mental health delivery system; and to provide a collective voice working towards common goals.
The RETHN is comprised of local advisory boards that represent the twelve counties of our Deep East Texas region, as well as a Regional Board of Directors. Each local advisory board meets on a regular basis throughout the year.
Shown here at the meeting are (front row, left to right): David Young, Lufkin Police Department; Cathy Busbee, Woodland Heights Hospital; Gale Culpepper, Burke; Mike Shapaka, Lufkin Police Department; Chris Logan, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council; Charlotte Griffith, Burke; (back row) David Thomas, Lufkin Police Department; Alton Lenderman, Angelina County Sheriff’s Department; Scott Cagnon, Lufkin Police Department; Michael Rankin, CHI Memorial Hospital; Allison Horsley, Burke; Sheriff Greg Sanches, Sheriff of Angelina County; Brett Maisel, Burke; Stacy Seymour, Angelina County Sheriff’s Department; Mike Ferrigno, Mental Health Advocate; Mike Cunyus, Burke; Norma Sanford, Harold’s House; Judge Wes Suiter, County Judge of Angelina County; Heather Kartye, Family Crisis Center of East Texas; Stephen Bennett, CHI Memorial Hospital; Jackie Evans, Woodland Heights Hospital; Kenneth Hadnot, CHI Memorial Hospital; Sherian Durham, Woodland Heights Hospital; and May McAnally, CHI Memorial Hospital. Also attending, but not shown, Delphina Maxie, Woodland Heights Hospital; Joy Rich, Oceans Behavioral Hospital; William Whiddon, Woodland Heights Hospital; Peggy Mortensen, CHI Memorial Hospital; Phyllis Grandgeorge, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council; and Anne Bondesen, RETHN.
Contact Shelly Ladden, Burke, (936) 633-5620, shellyl@myburke.org
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