State leaders hold mental health town hall in Bend

The Oregon Health Authority held a town hall in Bend Wednesday night on a very timely topic-the state’s mental health services.

This was one of the agency’s six town hall meetings throughout the state. Officials say their goal is to get feedback from residents on behavioral health services and what can be done to improve them.

Resident and community leaders were divided into small groups, where they gave input about different topics.

State officials say they received good feedback that could help them improve drug addiction programs, as well mental health programs for families.

“Our state in particular we’ve got a lot of folks who are dealing both with mental health and behavioral health issues.” Oregon Health Policy Board Chair Zeke Smith said. “So figuring out, how we can support people to make sure they can live the healthy lives they want to live?”

Also in attendance was state Sen. Sara Gelser, who is a member of the Human Services and Early Childhood Committee, as well as Bend state Sen. Tim Knopp.

Gelser said she would gather the information from the various town halls in hopes of co-authoring a bill to improve the current behavioral health system.