Trillium Health Resources outlines services, budget and asks Montgomery County to continue $60,775 in local support

Anthony Ward, regional vice president of Trillium Health Resources, told the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners on May 20 that the consolidated managed-care organization now serves 46 counties and manages behavioral-health and related services for tens of thousands of residents.

Ward said Trillium manages Medicaid dollars and other state and local funds and does not provide direct services itself; instead it authorizes and pays providers who deliver care. “There’s no wrong door for individuals seeking services,” Ward said, describing a 24/7 crisis line and a member services line that help people schedule assessments and referrals.

The presentation gave a regional overview and local figures. Ward said Trillium’s budget is about 80% Medicaid-funded: roughly 52% of Medicaid spending goes to behavioral health, 18% to physical health and 11% to pharmacy; administration is about 12%. He said Trillium serves approximately 215,000 Medicaid‑eligible individuals across its region, and that state and local funds support a larger uninsured population. For Montgomery County specifically, Ward reported local allocations and service counts for the first half of fiscal 2024–25 and identified some service-area changes.

Ward told commissioners that Daymark has been selected to add mobile crisis services in Montgomery County alongside existing providers and that Coastal Horizons will begin a child‑focused program called Child First. He also said Trillium continues to offer occasional community activities (for example, partner weekends at Victory Junction) and training such as Mental Health First Aid.

On county funding, Ward said Montgomery County provided $60,775 last year and that Trillium’s request for the coming year is for that same amount. He said the county-designated funds were proposed to be split: $18,000 for telehealth assessments in the jail/detention center and $42,775 for a clinician to perform assessments for Montgomery County Department of Social Services. Ward asked the board whether it wanted to continue those designations at the same levels.

Commissioners raised the loss of two school‑based behavioral‑health clinicians during the transition from Sandhills Center to Trillium. Ward explained that Sandhills had been able to reinvest savings into one‑time local services; under the managed‑care per‑member‑per‑month payment model, those reinvestments look different. He said Trillium created a billable school‑based mental‑health clinician model so providers can deliver billable services in schools, but that the arrangement would differ from a district‑employed clinician. “So what Trillium created was school based mental health clinicians,” Ward said, describing a revenue code and rate to support provider‑led school services.

Ward and the board discussed options for restoring school‑based clinician coverage, including having providers bill Medicaid for school services or the school system seeking grant or county funding. Ward said Trillium had included Montgomery County in regional planning, designated two local representatives on regional advisory boards (Commissioner Jeffrey Pope and Mary Hassle), and retained local staff to preserve continuity after consolidation.

Ward also outlined implementation lessons from the recent tailored‑plan launch, including call‑center staffing, transportation vendor adjustments and temporary authorization changes to ease providers’ transition into the new plan. He said tailored-plan operations began July 1, 2024, and that a statewide foster‑care plan is scheduled to transition foster‑care members to a separate plan in December 2025.

The county manager and commissioners asked Ward to follow up with details if the schools and commissioners wanted Trillium to pursue a provider‑based school clinician model. Ward said Trillium has an existing RFP model and increased rates for responsive school‑based services and offered to speak further with commissioners and school staff.

The presentation closed with Ward asking the board whether to continue the $60,775 designation, and he said Trillium would work with the county manager on any requested changes.

Ending: Commissioners did not vote immediately on the funding request during the May 20 meeting; Ward requested guidance and offered to follow up with managers and school officials on options for restoring school‑based clinicians.