The St. Mary's County Planning Commission reviewed the draft Public Health and Community Services element of the Comprehensive Plan 2050 during a Nov. 21 work session, focusing on language and implementation steps to address a growing older population and gaps in behavioral-health care.

Planning staff presented Goal 1 as "meet the health and safety needs of the growing population" and identified policy and action items intended to analyze existing services, identify gaps, and develop an implementation plan. Lori Jennings Harris, director of the Department of Aging and Human Services, told the commission the county's older-adult cohort is growing and that by about 2030 older adults could make up roughly 25% of the population, increasing demand for age-focused services.

Commissioners questioned several draft phrasings that imply guaranteed service provision. One commissioner said the word "guarantee" could be misleading because local governments have limited direct control over health-care workforce supply; staff and consultants agreed to revise such language toward measurable, collaborative phrasing (for example, "work toward ensuring access through county collaboration and partners"). Jasmine Davidson of the consultant team noted she would mark those edits for the next draft.

The group pressed staff to consolidate repetitive actions. Commissioners recommended combining closely related items, for example the periodic analysis of available health services and the subsequent development of an action plan, into a single ongoing assessment and response process rather than separate, one-off entries.

Behavioral-health services, previously housed in aging services, now fall under the county health department, staff said. Captain Steve Simons of the Sheriff's Office described frequent law-enforcement contact with people in mental-health crises, the department's recent Crisis Intervention Team training and diversion programs meant to reduce unnecessary arrests. Staff emphasized the need for clearer definitions of "behavioral health" in the draft so readers understand whether it includes mental-health counseling, substance-use treatment or both.

The commission also discussed incentives to recruit physicians and other clinicians. One commissioner recalled a local recruitment offer of $350,000 that drew no applicants while a nearby Virginia program offered $300,000 and received applications, arguing that broader structural issues (tax base, location, practice context) influence outcomes. Staff said the comp plan can recommend exploring incentives and an implementation chapter will identify which county and partner agencies could pursue them.

Planning staff said the draft will include a glossary, clearer cross-references to the 2010 plan and an implementation chapter that names responsible agencies for actions and prioritizes them. The commission asked for more-intuitive cross-walks and for draft materials to be viewable on laptops during future meetings to facilitate line-by-line comparisons. The planning team agreed to refine language, combine overlapping actions and return with clarified verbiage and the referenced definitions.

The commission recessed after the public-health discussion and planned to continue housing and growth-management elements in upcoming sessions.