MHA-NC, since 1939 NOW to Close It's Doors:NC DHHS Waltzing Matilda While Looking Out The Window

Man, what is it going to take to wake up the state legislature...to call their attention to the strain on the Medicaid, in particular, system (state run)?

This is the oldest MH provider in NC, operating since 1939.

Everytime the NC State Legislature vis a vis NC DHHS has jerked the choke collar of the providers.....saying they would do this and then that...and then pulling the rug out from under the providers...its been like a family that keeps trying to pay its mortgage when the jobs keep being pulled out from underneath the family providers.

Sorry, I don't think it was because Mr. Tote and some executives were making what moderately paid executives usually make. You can't run a company when the funds ebb and flow just like you can't run a house-hold when you keep getting downsized.

This is a VERY big deal.

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"Sunday, August 1, 2010

Oldest mental health advocacy group in NC to close due to financial problems

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/28/504355/mental-health-group-can-pay-only.html

From The News & Observer:
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The financially troubled Mental Health Association of North Carolina is shutting down.A brief statement released July 30 by the organization’s interim executive director, Christie Foppiano, confirmed that MHA is insolvent and shutting its doors.“In the days ahead, MHA will be working to wind up its affairs and close,” the statement said. “MHA-NC is disappointed that it is unable to meet its financial commitments and continue to carry out its mission to promote mental health awareness, prevent mental illness and eliminate discrimination against people with mental illness.”

Incorporated in 1939, MHA is the oldest advocacy group for people with mental illness in the state and once one of North Carolina’s largest providers of housing and treatment for the population it served.The true depth of the group’s financial problems in recent years, hidden from most of its employees and even its board members, came to light in May when MHA’s longtime executive director, John Tote, was appointed to head the state’s mental health system.

Tote was forced to withdraw from the high-profile appointment less than a week later, after news reports that MHA faced more than $1.5 million in IRS liens related to years of unpaid payroll taxes.On July 26, MHA lost its accreditation, cutting off the group's access to federal Medicaid reimbursements. Without the ability to bill Medicaid, the organizations fate was sealed.The operation of MHA's remaining group homes and treatment programs across the state will be assumed by Easter Seals UCP of North Carolina."