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CCF Woman of the Year
BY KANDICE BELL
kandice@newnan.com
Local arts center offers free swing dance lessons
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Chuck and Jenny Enderlin show dancers how to properly dip their partners during an East Coast Swing Dance lesson at the Backstreet Community Arts Center.
The Backstreet Community Arts Center off First Avenue is hopping every Wednesday night. The big band sounds of the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s fill the room as people learn the energetic dance stylings of East Coast Swing dance. The sessions are free, though donations are welcome. The class is taught by Jenny and Chuck Enderlin for people 18 years of age and up. “One gentleman who comes is in his 90s,” said Jenny. “No partner is necessary. Everyone is encouraged to dance with everyone.” Folks also do not need to have any dance experience, Jenny said.
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Swing
melanie@newnan.com
upcoming events in our area
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Bringin’ in the
BY MELANIE RUBERTI
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The class is held every Wednesday night and starts at 6:30 p.m. with a basic lesson. It’s then followed by an hour of social dance.
The class is held every Wednesday night and starts at 6:30 p.m. with a basic lesson. It’s then followed by an hour of social dance. Swing dancing keeps people moving at all time, and is good for your health. “Dancing is the only type of exercise in which you actually forget you're getting a workout,” Jenny explained. “You just turn on some
big band music and have fun! “Because dancing combines social connectivity, learning new skills, creativity, and physical activity. It invigorates mind, body, and spirit,” she added. “Ask anyone who has ever gone dancing a few weeks in a row and they will tell you they can feel
SWING • 5
Coweta County’s unemployment rate h a s d ropped , and more people are working in Coweta as the manufacturing sector has added about 935 jobs since last year. Coweta’s employment increased since the first quarter of 2016 and added about 1,567 jobs, according to an economic overPHOTO BY KANDICE BELL view presented Tues- D r. W i l l i a m “J o e y ” S m i t h , day by the University chairman of the Universit y of West Georgia’s Dr. of West Georgia’s Economic William (Joey) Smith, department, presents data and chairman of the uni- statistics at the 2017 Economic versity’s economics Forecast Breakfast. department. Smith presented data and statistics at the 2017 Economic Forecast Breakfast on Tuesday morning in Carrollton at the University of West Georgia. The annual breakfast gives a West Georgia regional update, which includes Coweta, Carroll, Douglas, Haralson, Paulding and Polk counties. The most recent unemployment rate for Coweta from August was 4.3 percent, which is below the rate of 5.3 percent last year. Coweta’s unemployment rate is lower than the state average unemployment rate of about 5 percent. Construction jobs grew by nearly 16 percent, and retail grew by 2 percent. The booming health care industry slowed down in job growth, only growing 1.1 percent. Almost 500 jobs were added in the accommodation/food services category.
Seeking a better destination Most behavioral patients end up at the ER – sometimes for days
By SARAH FAY CAMPBELL sarah@newnan.com Part two of a series on the newly formed Coweta Behavioral Health Task Force W hen someone in Coweta is having a behavioral health crisis, the options are fairly limited. Most patients end up in the emergency room at Piedmont Newnan Hospital. Some are taken there by ambulance, while others are taken by family or friends, or end up there on their own. But the emergency room isn’t the only place to go. Pathways Center has a 24-hour walk-in center for people in a behavioral health crisis, where they can be evaluated and connected to services. A patient in crisis can stay at the center, located a t 5 9 Ho s pi t a l R o a d , Newnan, up to 23 hours. The center is located in the basement of the Path-
ways Behavioral Clinic. The entrance is in the rear of the building. Patients are evaluated and monitored, and can relax, watch television or read, and eat. A nurse is on staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Jade Benefield, CEO of Pathways Community Service Board. If the patient does need inpatient services, Pathways can arrange transportation to Second Season, the organization’s crisis stabilization unit in LaGrange. There is a similar center for youth, Hope’s Corner, in Greenville. The units also prov ide s ubst a nce a bu s e detox. Or, if after several hours the person is no longer in a crisis, an appointment can be set up for counseling at the Pathways Clinic. Public safety can also transport patients to the walk-in center instead of
PHOTO BY SARAH CAMPBELL
Dr. Don B aker, director of Piedmont Newnan Hospital’s emergency department and medical director for Coweta F i r e / Re s c u e , s p e a k s a t a recent gathering of members of t h e Cowe t a B e h av io r a l Health Task Force.
the hospital, but it rarely happens. Sometimes, a patient needs to be medically cleared at the hospital before going for behavioral health treatment. “It is a receiving facility. We have the ability to evaluate on-site and determine if they need additional medical clearance,”
Benefield said of the walkin center. In theory, local public safety could also transpor t pat ients d i rect ly to S e c o n d S e a s o n i n LaGrange, Benefield said, but the facility is usually fairly full. Though the emergency room is the default choice, it’s not ideal by any means. “ P i e d m o n t Ne w n a n cares for those patients, but we’re not licensed to care for behavioral health or psychiatric patients,” said Melanie Kirby, director of case management for the hospital. “So we do the best we can until they get to the place they should be.” Dr. Don Baker, director of Piedmont Newnan’s emergency department and medical director for Coweta County Fire Rescue, said he wants behavioral health patients to get the best care as quickly as possible. I n stead, “ T he k nee-
For information about behavioral health services or to talk to someone, call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line at 1-800-715-4225. jerk reaction of not only the public but everyone in the community is to send them to the ER,” Baker said. Ba ker and K irby are b ot h pa r t ic ipat i n g i n meetings of the newly formed Coweta Behavioral Health Task Force. The task force, a loose group of local medical, behav iora l hea lt h a nd public safety personnel, is working together to find a better way to respond to behavioral health emergencies in the community. Ba ker said there are t y pica l ly t wo to si x behavioral health patients treated in the emergency
room every day. Sometimes those patients have to wait days to get a placement at a behavioral health facility. And they spend those days in the emergency room – taking up beds that can’t be used by other emergency patients, who then end up waiting longer to get a bed, according to Baker. Often, patients get a psych iat ric placement in two to three days, but not always. Recently, one patient was at the ER for two weeks, though that was a unique case and is
MENTAL HEALTH • 2
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