NEWS & NOTES

What led you to the mental health field? I decided to be a person that helped others while traveling in Europe after I graduated from the KU School of Business focusing on Marketing and Personnel Management. I decided not to go into business after landing a job for a bank manager position in Washington, DC. I didn’t think it focused enough on helping others. When I returned to Lawrence to visit with my friends, I responded to an ad on the wall of the post office in Lawrence.

Bert Nash CEO Patrick Schmitz, speaking at the 2019 Celebrate Bert Nash breakfast: When I came here over two years ago, I expected there would be changes and that I would be part of creating some of them. I would have never foreseen the significant number of professional and personal ones I would go through. At the Bert Nash Center, we’ve been involved in creating change in how we deliver services. I am happy to report we’ve made significant progress. This past year we Respon

When asked what he thought about the idea of talking about the subject of mental health and the agricultural community, Lowell Neitzel didn’t hesitate to respond. “I’ve been hoping for someone to help out us farmers,” he said. That’s exactly what Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman has been hoping for as well. “As a county, we have been working really hard on mental health crisis work and trying to help people get through their rough times, but the farming community is

Describe your role at Bert Nash. My role at Bert Nash has evolved over the time that I have been here. Primarily, I am a waiver facilitator and in a nut-shell I help develop and maintain plans of care for clients on the SED (Serious Emotional Disturbance) waiver. That includes collaborating with families, treatment teams, MCOs (Managed Care Organizations), and community partners to identify goals and needed supports. However, my first position with Bert Nash was providing att

Mindy Downs has been doing social work for 25 years. She can’t imagine doing anything else. For those who do what Downs does, being a case manager is more than a job; it’s a calling. “This is what I feel like I’m supposed to be doing,” said Downs, who has been a case manager at the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center for 13 years. “It’s a meant-to-be thing.” According to the Case Management Society of America, “Case management is a collaborative process of assessment, pl