Robinson of Rose Hill Appointed State Advisory Council

Ben Robinson Appointed To Newly Formed State Advisory Council

President and CEO of Rose Hill Center, Ben Robinson has been appointed to the Michigan Department of Community Health's (MDCH) newly established Behavioral Health Advisory Council. MDCH Director James Haveman made the appointment.

"Ben and Rose Hill Center are an important voice to be heard as we shape the behavioral health programs to carry us into the next decades," said Haveman. "Now, more than ever, in this time of health care reform, we need a person like Ben Robinson who so well represents the public-private partnerships that have been so successful in Michigan. I was pleased to appoint Ben to this advisory council and welcome his friendship."

Robinson, a 40-year veteran in the mental health and human services community, will serve as an advocate for persons with mental illness, assessing the adequacy of mental health and substance use disorder services in the state. His two-year term ends Dec. 31, 2014. He also served for the past 12 years, twice as chair, on the Advisory Council on Mental Illness, which the new advisory body replaces.

"I'm delighted to have been appointed and I'm honored to serve in this capacity. I feel strongly about the need to better integrate mental health and substance use disorder services in Michigan," said Robinson. "I look forward to serving on this new council with this goal in mind."

The new 28-member panel, consolidating the work of several former councils, will review Michigan's federal grant application and implementation reports for both mental health and substance abuse services, and provide recommendations and insights to the state's community health department. The council will meet four times a year in Lansing, Mich., with additional meetings convened as needed to address special projects.

Rose Hill is happy to welcome two new staff members to our clinical team. First, Sharon Wright joins Rose Hill as our new part time Contractual Psychologist. She comes to us with over 17 years of experience in both private and governmental therapy programs. As a member of the Rose Hill clinical team Sharon will be on campus each week running DBT groups as well as additional group and individual therapy. She is also available for private pay individual therapy on a referral basis.

Also, joining the Rose Hill team is new Case Manager, Kelli Lawrence. As a Case Manager Kelli will manage all aspects of patients' treatment and services, including providing crisis intervention. She will direct the activities of the treatment plan to identify goals that help patients reduce symptoms of their mental illness and she will meet with patients' families or guardians to establish natural support systems upon discharge.

All of us at Rose Hill are happy to have Sharon and Kelli join our team.

Rose Hill Center is a private, non-profit, psychiatric rehabilitation facility for young adults over 18, who are diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, clinical depression, bi-polar disorder or other major mental illness.