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Health Department, community mental‑health provider outline services and ask for continued or expanded county support
Summary
The Health Department sought level funding and highlighted recent program expansions, and New Horizons asked the county to consider funding psychiatric staffing to boost local psychiatric capacity, including services tied to the jail and inpatient referrals.
The County Health Department and a regional behavioral‑health provider spoke to commissioners about program needs and funding for FY26.
Clint Sperber, director of the Okeechobee County Health Department, asked the board for level funding and highlighted recent program expansions: partnership with Treasure Coast Food Bank for a monthly Family Market food distribution, growth in clinic primary care services, expanded school‑based dental coverage to kindergarten through second grade and added staff to increase immunization capacity. ‘‘We started a partnership with the Treasure Coast Food Bank to be a food distribution site for the Family Market Program,’’ Sperber said, noting the program served 1,469 people (325 households) in three months.
Sperber also described community injury‑prevention work (Safe Kids Treasure Coast), pool‑alarm distribution and an expanded safe baby program with partner agencies; he agreed to meet with commissioners to review permitting and epidemic‑notification questions raised by a commissioner.
Greg Jackson, CEO of New Horizons of the Treasure Coast — a community mental‑health center that serves four counties — told commissioners New Horizons requested county funding to support additional psychiatric medical staffing. Jackson said New Horizons served 886 Okeechobee County residents across its programs last year and provided inpatient psychiatric services for county adults and children at its Fort Pierce facility. He said New Horizons has one full‑time psychiatric nurse practitioner in Okeechobee and needs additional psychiatric providers to support jail populations and increased demand.
Commissioners suggested New Horizons consider using unspent county opioid‑settlement funds and asked the provider to coordinate with county staff to identify eligible uses; New Horizons agreed to follow up with requested cost and opioid‑program detail.
Both presenters asked for funding continuity: Sperber requested level county support for health‑department programs; Jackson asked the board to consider grants or opioid‑fund support to help hire psychiatrists or psychiatric nurse practitioners.
