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The Columbus County Board of Commissioners have requested permission from Secretary Mandy Cohen of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to leave Eastpointe and join Trillium Health Resources. North Carolina law allows counties choose which Local Management Entity/Managed Care Organization (LME/MCO) manages mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services in their county, subject to the approval of DHHS. An effective date for the change has not yet been determined.
Columbus County has been a member of Eastpointe since July 1, 2012, when Southeastern Regional Mental Health merged with The Beacon Center and Eastpointe to form a 12 county LME/MCO. The Board of Commissioners do not believe that Columbus County residents have had access to the high quality services they deserve under Eastpointe management and that a change is necessary to better serve the county. The Board of Commissioners have chosen Trillium Health Resources, a twenty four county program that borders Columbus County, as the new manager. Trillium Health Resources has a proven track record of providing high quality services in rural counties. Trillium Health Resources has promised to contract with all providers currently serving Columbus County residents and to recruit new providers to fill in gaps in services.
Columbus County is hereby informing the providers of the decision made on January 17, 2017, to disengage from Eastpointe.
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