Mental health agency's CEO to leave post Friday

Feb. 19--The chief executive officer of Southwest Washington Behavioral Health will leave her post at the end of the week.

The departure comes as the regional support network moves forward with plans to hand off the administration of regional mental health services to managed care plans by April 2016.

CEO Connie Mom-Chhing submitted her resignation last month. She's leaving the organization to become the chief behavioral health officer at Columbia United Providers, a Vancouver-based managed care plan. Her last day at Southwest Washington Behavioral Health is Friday.

Southwest Washington Behavioral Health administers and coordinates mental health services for Medicaid clients in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties who have higher-level diagnoses and needs. About 131,000 people in the region (99,000 in Clark County) are eligible for its services.

A statewide Medicaid integration plan -- for which our region is an "early adopter" and following an accelerated time line -- calls for the management of those services to be handed off to Medicaid managed care plans by April 2016. When that happens, Southwest Washington Behavioral Health will cease to exist, at least in its current capacity.

The Southwest Washington Behavioral Health board of directors -- Skamania County Commissioner Chris Brong, Cowlitz County Commissioner Dennis Weber and Clark County Councilor David Madore -- voted Friday to appoint Brian Cameron, who is the executive director of the Timberlands regional support network, as the interim director of the local network.

Cameron will spend 20 percent of his time performing work for the Southwest Washington region. The rest of his time will be dedicated to his duties at the Timberlands network, which includes Lewis, Pacific and Wahkiakum counties. Details of Cameron's contract, including his compensation, are still being finalized, said Brong, the board chairman.

The board considered three candidates put forth by the counties' community health directors for the interim position.

"We depended on the community health directors for Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties to look at the appropriate experience and qualifications for someone who could lead Southwest (Washington) Behavioral Health through the transition that Cowlitz County will make very shortly," Brong said Wednesday.

At the end of June, Cowlitz County will be leaving the Southwest Washington region to join the Timberlands network. Cameron will only serve as interim director until that transition is complete June 30.

In the coming months, the board will appoint a new interim director to take over July 1 and continue the process of transferring mental health services administration to managed care plans by April 2016. During Friday's meeting, the board discussed appointing Vanessa Gaston, Clark County Community Services director, to that position, but did not take any action.

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