HR1140 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1140 LRB094 20165 HSS 57957 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Heritage Behavioral Health Center celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding on March 28, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Heritage Behavioral Health Center, Inc., traces its origin to March 1, 1956, when the Mental Health Clinic of Macon County was founded by a group of area residents that had formed the Macon County Mental Health Association in 1955; the Mental Health Clinic accepted its first client on April 10 of that year and has been providing continuous service since then; and

WHEREAS, In 1967, the Alcoholism Advisory Council for the Decatur Area was established to provide substance abuse services; in 1970, the Mental Health Clinic became the Decatur Mental Health Center and established an inter-locked relationship with the Alcoholism Advisory Council; in 1987, the Alcoholism Advisory Council was merged into Decatur Mental Health Center (DMHC); DMHC continued its steady growth and became the primary provider of community-based behavioral health care in Macon County; in 1998, Decatur Mental Health Center became Heritage Behavioral Health Center, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, Although the name and services have changed over the course of its 50-year history, Heritage Behavioral Health Center has stayed true to the principles upon which it was founded, building a legacy of high quality, low-cost services provided without regard to the recipient's ability to pay; Heritage provides comprehensive community-based services to treat the most serious behavioral disorders and links them closely with providers of inpatient care; and

WHEREAS, The organization has evolved from just seven staff serving 194 individuals in its initial 16 months with a budget of $31,000, to the 25-year mark, where it had 75 employees with a $1.1 million budget that served over 2,000; and

WHEREAS, Today, 210 employees provide services to over 7,000 people annually with a budget of over $11 million; the staff provides a wide variety of innovative outreach, crisis intervention, and prevention services based in local schools and communities; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, the center has received several awards for its efforts in the mental health field, including the Nicholas Davies Award; the Best Practices Award for Documentation, Billing, and Coding from Health Ethics Trust; and the Negley Chairman's Award for corporate compliance efforts; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the 50th anniversary of the founding of what has become the Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur, and we applaud the efforts of all involved with the valuable services that the center provides; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Heritage Behavioral Health Center as an expression of our esteem and gratitude.