HR1140 LRB094 20165 HSS 57957 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Heritage Behavioral Health Center celebrated the
3 50th anniversary of its founding on March 28, 2006; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Heritage Behavioral Health Center, Inc., traces
5 its origin to March 1, 1956, when the Mental Health Clinic of
6 Macon County was founded by a group of area residents that had
7 formed the Macon County Mental Health Association in 1955; the
8 Mental Health Clinic accepted its first client on April 10 of
9 that year and has been providing continuous service since then;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, In 1967, the Alcoholism Advisory Council for the
12 Decatur Area was established to provide substance abuse
13 services; in 1970, the Mental Health Clinic became the Decatur
14 Mental Health Center and established an inter-locked
15 relationship with the Alcoholism Advisory Council; in 1987, the
16 Alcoholism Advisory Council was merged into Decatur Mental
17 Health Center (DMHC); DMHC continued its steady growth and
18 became the primary provider of community-based behavioral
19 health care in Macon County; in 1998, Decatur Mental Health
20 Center became Heritage Behavioral Health Center, Inc.; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Although the name and services have changed over
22 the course of its 50-year history, Heritage Behavioral Health
23 Center has stayed true to the principles upon which it was
24 founded, building a legacy of high quality, low-cost services
25 provided without regard to the recipient's ability to pay;
26 Heritage provides comprehensive community-based services to
27 treat the most serious behavioral disorders and links them
28 closely with providers of inpatient care; and
 
29     WHEREAS, The organization has evolved from just seven staff
30 serving 194 individuals in its initial 16 months with a budget
31 of $31,000, to the 25-year mark, where it had 75 employees with

 

 

HR1140 - 2 - LRB094 20165 HSS 57957 r

1 a $1.1 million budget that served over 2,000; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Today, 210 employees provide services to over
3 7,000 people annually with a budget of over $11 million; the
4 staff provides a wide variety of innovative outreach, crisis
5 intervention, and prevention services based in local schools
6 and communities; and
 
7     WHEREAS, In recent years, the center has received several
8 awards for its efforts in the mental health field, including
9 the Nicholas Davies Award; the Best Practices Award for
10 Documentation, Billing, and Coding from Health Ethics Trust;
11 and the Negley Chairman's Award for corporate compliance
12 efforts; therefore, be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15 we recognize the 50th anniversary of the founding of what has
16 become the Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur, and we
17 applaud the efforts of all involved with the valuable services
18 that the center provides; and be it further
 
19     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20 presented to Heritage Behavioral Health Center as an expression
21 of our esteem and gratitude.