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>>Dave Richard: This ensures we will coordinate the activities of our public safety net through
our state operated facilities with community mental health system. It is so important that
we work together as we go forward because our world is changing and creating a system
that is a true continuum is critical as we go forward. Our divisions have always worked
together; we have terrific staff in those divisions. But now we have the opportunity
to truly help people working together with our public partners, the LME/MCOs in the community.
So we wind up having a system that works for the North Carolina citizens, our tax payers;
helps us support the goal of integrated care and treats the whole person as we go forward.
>>Dave Richard: It doesn’t really combine the two divisions but it gives us an opportunity
to work much closer together. There are very specific responsibilities that state operated
services must have, obviously running 14 really important health care facilities is a very
specific task. Division of Mental Health has to work with our public partners and private
partners in the community to make sure the community mental health system works. Those
two tasks have to continue but to work together as we create this continuum, as we create
this opportunity for integrative care. Creating this deputy secretary role over both actually
changes the dynamic we have. So we will work closely together we will begin to see the
benefits of that coordination and collaboration as we go forward.
>>Dave Richard: It’s great timing. Again, brining on Dale was really important. As you
know Luckey Welsh did a terrific job at making sure our facilities were top notch organizations.
Dale comes in at a time to be able to move them forward. Having Courtney available to
take this role at this point in time allowed for this change to happen and it’s a great
opportunity to for us to have deputy secretary Robin Cummings with Health and also Medicaid
with us doing Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Services, and Sherry Bradsher with
the human service side. For us to work together to make sure we are treating the whole person
because our sections our responsibilities cross over so much it’s a great time to
do that. It fits with what the secretary’s vision is of Medicaid reform and how we operate
as a department.
>>Dave Richard: Medicaid Reform is about Medicaid also about our entire publically funded health
care system. Department of Health and Human Services touches lives all over NC in Medicaid
and other areas. This brings the opportunity to create the talent, to bring talent on,
again the addition of Penny Slade-Sawyer in Public Health, what a great addition that
is. Dale Armstrong with his incredible community connections and his management skills in services
that we’ve had in terms of behavioral health and medical services. And Dr. Cummings of
course with his terrific background in doing the work of medicine across the state. We
have a chance now with this team and many others in the leaders in our department to
really support this Medicaid reform effort but frankly the whole healthcare changes that
we are facing and the complexities of those healthcare changes that we see coming forward.