AMERICUS — Thomas Updike, Ph.D., sits behind his desk inside of Middle Flint Behavioral Healthcare (MFBH) in Americus with a lot on his mind. Updike is the new CEO of MFBH, and has been working with the organization since September.

Updike’s mind could be clouded with many things, such as employee morale, patient care, and running an organization like MFBH, when the state is slashing budgets not only for mental health but across the board. Updike knows all of the challenges, though and when he speaks in his slow, Virginian southern drawl, you can tell he is up to the challenge.

“When I found that the position here in Americus was open,” said Updike, “I became interested in it because it raised some opportunities to apply some of the new concepts that I have in getting care to persons in rural areas, and to set about developing models that work well not only financially, but clinically, to get services out there.”

It was that small town, rural community aspect that Updike liked the most about Americus. He was raised on a farm outside of Albemarle County, Va., before his family moved into the town of Charlottesville. In describing the town, Updike said, “It’s a small town. In fact, it reminds me a great deal of Americus, so I feel very comfortable here.”

Updike has been working in the mental health business for 45 years, something that he says “sure doesn’t show.” Updike started off as a medical researcher in pathology and biochemistry, and found himself becoming interested in the problems in the way the brain functions. “The more and more I got interested in those problems,” said Updike, “the more I moved into the field of psychiatry and mental health.”

Updike found his specialty though when he began running large, fairly complicated companies that found themselves in some financial trouble. Updike said, “I found out one of my skills is going in and fixing troubled organizations. I have always been interested in the problem of getting mental health and health services into rural areas, because my background is in rural mental health. I was raised on a farm, so I feel comfortable in rural areas. I have lived in some of the largest cities in the world, but I still am very interested and concerned about the problems that we run into in rural areas, mainly being accessibility to health care.”

After attending high school in Charlottesville, Updike attended Lynchburg College as well as the University of Virginia. After that, he attended the Medical College of Virginia where he did post-graduate work, while holding a joint appointment with the department of pathology and biochemistry. Then it was off to Michigan State University, where he received a clinical doctoral degree.

Updike then continued on in his studies and received forensic training from the University of Michigan, as well as moving to New York to do more post-graduate work at New York University (NYU) at the Post-Graduate School of Medicine. Updike followed up his stint at NYU by specialized work in health care administration at both Rice University and Harvard. “I have had fairly extensive training in clinical and administrative,” Updike said with a smile.

Though he smiles, Updike knows that times are tough for mental health agencies not only in Georgia, but across the nation. “With the pressures the state of Georgia has right now, not the least of which is the Department of Justice investigating the state hospitals,” said Updike, “there is enormous pressure to get patients who otherwise might be in a hospital, out into the community, and we are the ones who have to provide the treatment and care for these patients.”

Updike went on to say that it has been an extremely difficult time for these agencies, adding that just because the funding for the programs is getting cut, does not mean that the patients are going away. MFBH provides residents of the eight-county service area (serving Crisp, Dooly, Macon, Marion, Schley, Sumter, Taylor and Webster counties) with mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse related treatment and prevention services. These services include counseling, crisis intervention, outpatient psychiatric care, ambulatory detoxification, community housing, community outreach, education and caregiver support. The primary focus is the mental and emotional health of consumers.

“We serve not only with mental diseases, but also those with developmental disabilities as well as those persons with addictive disorders, so we have a wide range,” said Updike. “Our age range that we serve is from birth to death. It’s an enormous challenge.”

Contrary to popular belief though, MFBH is not a state agency, even though they receive state dollars. Updike explained the meaning of this. “We are a public company, but we are not a state agency. It means that although the employees may be, and we are, required to be in the State Merit System, the organization itself does not have the benefit of having the protection from the state. We do not get funding from the state directly; we have a contract with the state and we have to earn those dollars. This means we have to provide a set of services as prescribed by the state, for which we get a reimbursement rate for that service. So if we don’t deliver the service, then we do not receive the funds, and if we don’t earn the money, we run a deficit. I have to manage this like any large company.”

Managing an organization like MFBH is a large task, but Updike takes it in stride, knowing that he has dealt with the same issues before. “The organization (MFBH) is very challenged financially due to some of the cuts from the state,” said Updike, “so we have to learn to be smarter and to operate a very complex system, and that’s what I’m good at.” Updike has already moved forward in his job, by taking the cuts that the state hands down, and working with the hand that he is being dealt.

“The DD (Developmental Disabilities) budget was reduced in some areas by 44 percent,” said Updike, “and that’s absolutely catastrophic. The patients did not go away. So, what that has required me to do in this system, is to manage these cuts, and consolidate the things that we are doing. We have an absolute freeze on staff, and have raised productivity.”