Mental health center scrambles for funding

Public mental health providers saya lack of funding means they can only serve the most seriously ill patients in Beaufort County. The officials also say they are having trouble retaining and attracting counselors and psychiatrists because of low salaries.

Coastal Empire Community Mental Health Center wants the Beaufort County Council to give it more money for recruiting and retention. The average salary at the center is about

$35,000 for counselors and $140,000 for psychiatrists.

With a staff of 96, the center also is spread too thin, said executive director Ray Norris. The ratio is 3.5 staffers per 10,000 people in the region serving Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Colleton and Allendale counties. That's below the state average of 5 staff members per 10,000 population.

The center serves about 750 people at any given time and sees about 60 new cases a month.

Norris said the center only can afford to help those with the most serious illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and personality disorders.

When county budget talks begin in April, the center will find itself lumped in with eight other outside agencies that all compete for the same pool of money.

The center's board of directors is asking County Council to consider it separately. Council takes that approach with other medical centers like Beaufort Memorial Hospital and Beaufort Jasper Comprehensive Health, which receive money for indigent care.

"If we can't get more money in the future, at least we are classified right," Norris said.

Coastal Empire operates on a $6.9 million budget. Most of that is state funded because the center is part of the S.C. Department of Mental Health.

Beaufort County gives about $140,000 toward operations each year -- the largest chunk from local governments in the five-county region.

Last year, though, the county gave Coastal $146,000, which Norris said helped pay for a part-time social worker at the Beaufort County jail and a full-time counselor at the Department of Social Services.

"We are concerned if this (level of funding) continues, it will jeopardize our ability to do that," Norris said.

At the center's board meeting last week, county Councilman Bill McBride said he's not sure the center will get more money from County Council.

"We are at a difficult time," McBride said. "I am willing to bring it up, but there are budgetary restraints now."