Tag: Kelly Macken-Marble

Rural Recovery Resources

Mental illness and addiction are big issues everywhere — but especially in rural areas like Osceola, Wisconsin, that lack local treatment resources. As my partner, Nicole Smith, M.D., said well, “What we lack at Osceola, is we don’t have integrated behavioral health, we don’t have therapists on staff. For better or for worse, Osceola doesn’t have mental health beds.”

All of that is about to change!

Exist Media Company — Lakeland, Minn.

Osceola Medical Center (OMC), a rural health clinic and critical access hospital, has committed to rapidly creating local services for mental illness and addiction. The Osceola Community Health Foundation (OCHF) recently raised $61,000 at its annual gala to launch an integrated behavioral health program. And OMC’s board of directors just prioritized creating “psych safe” hospital beds so we can stop boarding patients in the emergency department and transferring them far from home.

“We want to be known as the people who show up in the best and worst of times for our patients and their families,” said Kelly Macken-Marble, OMC’s chief executive officer.

Many thanks to Jill Leahy, Director of the OCHF; Exist Media Company; and countless others for imaging a better future for our community. ✸

Time Machine — Clinic Grand Opening

Two years ago today, North Memorial Health opened its Mental Health & Addiction Center. Previously, it didn’t have an outpatient clinic for medication management and psychotherapy, or to receive patients following hospital discharge.

Kelly Macken-Marble and I served as the project’s executive sponsors. In truth, John Sutherland, Jackie Dean, David Oliver and Marrion Muia did all of the work. And, boy, was it a lot of work! The project involved everything from architectural drawings to clinical workflows—literally thousands of hours, decisions and details.

KSTP’s Ken Barlow, who has bravely and very publicly shared his brush with bipolar disorder, was the master of ceremony. A good time was had by all.

Middle Left: John Sutherland and Jackie Dean cutting the ribbon. Middle Right: Ken Barlow. Bottom Left: Ken Barlow; David Frenz; and Brian Johns, M.D.

Jail Medicine

This week, we paused from life’s bustle to celebrate a remarkable public-private partnership. CentraCare Health, based in St. Cloud, Minn., began discussing correctional health care (“jail medicine”) with its host counties about three years ago. This ultimately resulted in CentraCare being named as the health authority (a statutory term) for the Benton County Jail and Stearns County Jail.

I’m fortunate to be part of the team that spun up the program. Originally, it was just Katy Kirchner, Heather Qunell, Cindy Henze and me squatting in a vacant office. There were only two desks, so I typically sat on the floor with my laptop.

The program and team quickly grew to include infirmaries in the jails and a clinic to serve inmates following release to the community. Our providers—all stellar people and clinicians—are Zach Dorholt, Bri Eriksson, Lori Korte, Julie Moriak and Cat Standfuss.

The program also owes its success to incredible nurses and support staff, and unwavering executive support. On the CentraCare side, Kelly Macken-Marble and Kathy Parsons have championed the partnership. And from the counties, Captains Susan Johnson (Benton) and Mark Maslonkowski (Stearns), the jail administrators, have been fantastic colleagues.

Many thanks to CentraCare for involving me in this deeply rewarding opportunity! §