Last month, Congressman Huizenga joined the bipartisan effort to reform mental health care in West Michigan and across the nation. H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015, empowers parents and caregivers while ensuring those who are in need of mental health care have access to quality care.
Recently, Mark Eastburg, the President and CEO of Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, wrote a letter to the editor in the Grand Rapids Business Journal praising Congressman Huizenga for his leadership in the effort to improve access to quality mental health services.
Dr. Eastburg wrote:
While national in scope, the bill would support local West Michigan solutions to problems that are unique to West Michigan — problems that decrease our quality of life, and create unnecessary health care costs and present challenges in our workplaces. Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Michigan, understands these local issues and is helping champion comprehensive mental health reform on the national level. Rep. Huizenga recently became a co-sponsor to the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act and is diligently working to make sure the local, West Michigan perspective is shared and helps inform national policy reform. Passage of the act will reduce the number of headlines we see linking mental illness to tragic events, and will increase the headlines describing breakthroughs of care, access and innovations, and improved quality of life in West Michigan. Let’s support our national legislators who are working hard to find consensus around common-sense solutions to this fixable problem of inadequate access to quality behavioral health services.
See the latest happenings in the 4th District by following me on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram social media channels. I encourage you to join the conversation!
