Genesee Health System reports expansion after millage; crisis stabilization unit due to open in June

Dan Russell, CEO of Genesee Health System (the county’s community mental health center), told the Genesee County Board of Commissioners May 28 that millage revenue passed in 2021 is funding new mental‑health and crisis services across the county.

Russell said the millage-funded programs have reached about 25,000 discrete individuals and recorded roughly 55,000 encounters to date, across 17 separate programs. “Most of everything I’m talking about tonight are new services, and they are services that we did not provide before because they are not Medicaid eligible,” Russell told commissioners.

He described two high-priority items now ramping up: a behavioral health urgent-care clinic that Russell said will operate 24/7 in a new facility at 1040 Bristol, and a crisis stabilization unit (CSU) with 16 beds for up to 72‑hour stays. Russell said the CSU is “about to open in June” and the system plans an open house June 16. The CSU is intended to divert people from emergency departments and jails by providing a setting staffed for mental‑health crises.

Russell described other millage‑funded work: expanded school services in all 26 districts and programs in roughly 121 school buildings, training and co‑response teams with law enforcement, and an in‑jail therapy presence. He said millage funding paid for 32 current positions and there were roughly 10 open positions, with several additional hires anticipated as the CSU reaches full operation.

Commissioners asked about finances and service metrics. Finance‑committee members noted a question about fund balance figures; Russell said the $11,000 figure he cited was a projected year‑end fund balance for the millage program this fiscal year, and that other agency balances (for example, prior deposits) could differ. He reiterated that core Genesee Health System services remain largely Medicaid‑funded: “Our core core services are almost exclusively Medicaid,” he said, estimating 93–95% of core revenue comes from Medicaid. He also reported a $185,000,000 annual budget for the agency’s core services.

On diversion from emergency departments, Russell said the co‑response teams of a sheriff’s deputy paired with a behavioral‑health worker have a roughly 97% diversion rate when deployed — meaning most calls handled by those teams do not end in an arrest or ED transfer. “When the co‑responders go out, 97% of the time that ends up in a mental‑health issue and does not go to the hospital,” Russell said.

Russell summarized the rationale for the millage: Medicaid covers services for people who meet a high clinical threshold; millage dollars were intended to create locally funded services for people with needs that do not meet Medicaid medical‑necessity thresholds. He said substantial planning and regulated program design delayed early rollouts but that 2025 was expected to be a ramp year for services.

Commissioners asked for more budget detail and requested finance‑committee follow‑up. Commissioner Cousineau said he would schedule a meeting to review fund balances and grants in greater depth. Russell offered to return with more granular financials and program‑level metrics, and to give tours of new facilities.

The presentation did not include proposed ordinance changes or a board vote; commissioners expressed support for continued oversight and asked for further information on grant spending, administrative costs and how first‑responder and EMS integrations are tracked as the programs scale.

Russell said the millage passed May 4, 2021, and that some programs only began receiving deposits in mid‑2022. He noted the programs are new and many are still being staffed and scaled. “We knew the first two years were going to be slow,” Russell said. “We expected to hit our stride in 2025.”