SERVING HENDRICKS COUNTY SINCE 1847
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The Republican
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Hendricks Behavioral Health Opening Soon at Plainfield
HCCF Awards $40,000 in COVID-19 Response Grants During 2020
Top photo: The groundbreaking ceremony brought out many community leaders, HRH administration and US HealthVest administration to celebrate. Bottom photo: The Hendricks Behavioral Hospital is almost complete and ready to open.
Danville Warriors Take Sagamore Conference Championship
By: Melissa Gibson One year ago this month, the groundbreaking for Hendricks Behavioral Health was celebrated at 1100 Southfield Drive, Plainfield. Today, the anticipated opening of the facility is just days away and leaders in the community as well as residents are looking forward to it. Hendricks Regional Health (HRH) had closed their behavioral health services prior to President and CEO Kevin Speer interviewing for the position. He walked into the job, knowing that mental health and addiction services were critical to the health of the community. “Individuals were having to go to the north or south side of Indy to get needed services and I made a commitment [in the interview process] that a priority would be reestablishing behavioral health services,” Speer said. Hospital administration began looking for a partner in the process and found US HealthVest, an organization that brings psychiatric and substance abuse care to communities across the country. “Over the course of our discussion with them, we came to the mutual conclusion that Plainfield would be a perfect site,” said Gary Everling, Chief Strategy Officer at HRH. “We have land on the northside of our existing facility and we’ve leased that land to US HealthVest for a new, 100 patient facility.” HRH will provide occupational health services, medical physicians to cover patient physicals and a variety of other needs. The partners are currently working on a strategy to facilitate emergency room visits, better served at the behavioral health site. “HRH spends a lot of time evaluating our partners in the industry,” Everling said. “It’s a comUS HealthVest has posted construction photos and anticipated plicated process and very renderings of what patients can expect within the facility on their involved. We want rela- website. tionships, collaborations ____________________________________________________ and even friendships. We did our investigative work [on US HealthVest], background checks and reached out to other hospitals collaborating with US HealthVest.” The conversations and opinions of former and current collaborators had all good things to say about US HealthVest and the Hendricks community began to feel the excitement of a much needed and anticipated project. “We’ve had enormous partnerships within the community,” Speer said. “That’s really paid dividends and built excitement. The leadership in the Town of Plainfield have been unbelievably supportive. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems and we went through the process of getting proper zoning for the property among other things and the leadership has just been remarkable.” The impatient facility offers 112 beds for all ages and all abilities to pay. Outpatient services are also available, and patients may find their programming more intensive than the typical 30-minute session seen at other facilities. They offer 24/7 crisis assessments, inpatient psychiatric programs, inpatient detox and substance use disorder programs, dual diagnosis programs and adolescent psychiatric programs. “You would be hard-pressed to find a situation or condition they would not be able to handle,” Everling said. Speer believes the community and the world has yet to see the full effects of what the pandemic has done as far as isolation, financial stress and more. In a world where connection has been discouraged, mental health and addiction patients are suffering. “This facility couldn’t have come at a more perfect time,” Speer said. “Now, more than ever, these services are needed in our community.” An anticipated soft opening of the facility is planned in the next 30 days. ______________________________________________________________________
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As we approach the one year mark of the global pandemic, the Hendricks County Community Foundation is continuing to work hard to help the county meet the challenges of COVID-19. In March 2020, HCCF launched the All In, Hendricks County Rapid Response Fund in partnership with Duke Energy Foundation and Hendricks Power Cooperative to support nonprofits that serve those most directly impacted by COVID-19. All In, Hendricks County came from our partnership with Visit Hendricks County's focus on the good things happening in Hendricks County. The Community Foundation has awarded COVID-19 response grants in three phases. Phase 1 provided unrestricted grants to organizations providing the front-line response to the pandemic. In Phase 2, HCCF provided a matching grant opportunity to seventeen local nonprofits struggling to meet their year-end fundraising goals due to COVID restrictions. The grants were unrestricted but required a $1 to $1 match to encourage charitable giving from our community. Phase 3 grants, approved by the HCCF Board of Directors in December 2020, provided $40,000 ($10,000 each) to four local nonprofits: Family Promise of Hendricks County, the Hendricks County Food Pantry Coalition, Hendricks County Senior Services, and WorkOne. These grants were designed to support areas of need in our community still impacted by the coronavirus, including food insecurity, homelessness, support for seniors, and unemployment. Because of generous donors, both individuals and organizations, the Community Foundation has been able to provide grants of over $575,000 to support our community in dealing with the difficulties of COVID-19. Eric Hessel, HCCF Vice President of Programs said, "Over the last year our community has shown just how giving they are. Because of these donors, HCCF was able to meet critical needs in our community. Whatever the future holds, the Community Foundation will be here serving Hendricks County." The Hendricks County Community Foundation partners with generous people to realize their charitable goals while addressing community needs in meaningful and lasting ways. The Community Foundation manages assets of over $19 million in a collection of funds created by individuals, families, businesses and organizations for charitable purposes. In 2020, the Community Foundation awarded over $1.6 million in grants to charitable organizations and scholarships to local students. For more information, call 317-268-6240 or visit www.hendrickscountycf.org. ______________________________________________________________________
Danville’s Braxton Fulwider (#1) Runs Offense against Crawfordsville.
What has now been a common theme among Danville High School sports teams, another championship was won over the weekend by the Danville Boys Basketball program. The Crawfordsville Athenians visited on Friday night, bringing with them their undefeated conference record to match the Warriors undefeated conference record. The winner of tonight’s game would be the 2020-2021 Sagamore Conference Champions. The game did not start well for the home team as they struggled to get out of the gate offensively. Falling behind by eight points early in the contest, Coach Barber and the players would have to adjust quickly to match the intensity brought to the floor by the Athenians. As they have done successfully more often than not this season, the proper adjustments were made and the Warriors erased the early deficit to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room at halftime. The second half would bring more of the same as these two teams battled it out and never let the other get too far out in front. Danville eventually reached a double-digit lead and held on down the stretch to win this one by the final score of 84-73. The Danville Warriors are the 2020-2021 Sagamore Conference Champions! Crawfordsville will not have to wait long to try and avenge this crushing defeat as they and Danville drew each other for a match-up in the opening round of the Sectionals. The two teams will square off at 6pm on Wednesday, March 3 at Frankfort High School. The winner of this game will likely face Greencastle who takes on North Montgomery in their first-round match up. In the win against Crawfordsville, leading the Warriors in scoring was Kobe Ward with 21, Brady Ruggles with 20 and Brayton McMahon with 17 points. The Warriors also played a non-conference make up game against North Putnam the next night but dropped a close one to the Cougars by the final score of 69-65. Kobe Ward finished with 26 points in this game and Brady Ruggles added 16 on the night. Danville has one more game before heading to the postseason as they host the Avon Orioles on Friday, February 26. The Junior Varsity game is at 6pm and the Varsity game will start around 7:30pm. ______________________________________________________________________
