The Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority will soon be undergoing some major changes.
The mental health authority finalized the purchase of a 141,000 square-foot building in Troy, 5505 Corporate Drive, Friday afternoon, for $10 million.
According to Christine Burke, mental health authority manager of communications and community outreach, the move from the 22,000 square-foot facility in Auburn Hills, 2011 Executive Hills Boulevard, to Troy will be made late this summer.
Mental Health Authority CEO Willie Brooks said these changes are centered around the needs of the people in Oakland County.
“The people we serve, and our commitment to promote and protect the future of Oakland County’s public mental health system, are at the focal point of this updated image and decision to move,” said Brooks. “Change is necessary for progress and success.”
NAME CHANGE
The mental health authority will be changing its name to the “Oakland Community Health Network” beginning in May.
The name change is inspired by ongoing concerns that the agency’s previous name did not accurately identify what services are available to Oakland County residents.
“In our ongoing self-assessment of how to better meet the needs of Oakland County citizens, community awareness about the services we offer was identified as an area in need of improvement,” said Brooks. “The fact that mental health was the only service included in our name, and both developmental disabilities and substance misuse were excluded, left people confused about who we assist and what we do.”
Another noticeable addition to the agency’s name is the word “network.”
“This change was made to better describe the mental health authority’s operating infrastructure, which includes contract relations with more than 30 healthcare organizations and approximately 300 service sites across the county,” said Burke.
NEW LOGO
A new logo will be revealed in May as well that will include the tagline: developmental disabilities, mental health, and substance recovery. “We are still working on some new design elements, which includes the taglines that identify those we serve,” said Burke.
MORE SPACE
Burke said the new facility will be large enough to allow their community healthcare partners to lease space, making it more of a centralized office.
“We want to open our building up for other community resources so it’s a centralized hub,” said Burke.
“We want to be able to keep all of our partners in this building so we can work closer with them. These won’t be main administrative offices for them, just hoteling hubs they can lease for a few days a week so they have staff working here with us.”
The main purpose for buying the facility was to better allow for the mental health authority to link residents, in need of assistance, more quickly to community resources.
“There should be no confusion about where people can go for assistance to reach their life goals and aspirations,” said Brooks.
The Troy location also allows for the mental health authority to utilize space for valuable network trainings instead of renting out venues, as has been done in the past.
