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For more than 30 years, RiverView Health has recognized individuals, groups, and programs with the Reaching Out to Serve Award. The award is given to those that symbolize RiverView’s mission of serving the region while demonstrating innovativeness voluntary of self-initiated efforts and works to improve the access, quality, or cost effectiveness of healthcare. This year’s honor was given to the Mobile Mental Health Crisis Response Team (MCRT).

MCRT was recognized for its crisis response to the counties of Polk, Norman, Red Lake, Mahnomen, Pennington, Kittson, Roseau and Marshall. The Crookston team covers mental health crisis line calls for all of those counties and responds to needs for in-person assessment and intervention in Polk, Red Lake, Mahnomen, and Norman County.

In 2018, the Crookston team responded to over 1,800 calls and completed 575 in-person assessments; 143 of those assessments were in collaboration with the RiverView Emergency Department.

”Their team responds at all hours of the day and night to meet and speak with our patients to help assess what their needs are and make recommendations for continued care,’’ shared Kristin Pearcy, director of RiverView’s Emergency Department. “They handle themselves with the utmost professionalism and compassion. Their jobs are certainly not easy, and their working days are long, but their dedication to their patients and their families shines through as they assist those in need.”

In addition to supporting the Emergency Department, the crisis team has played a major role in RiverView’s implementation of Zero Suicide, a system-wide organization commitment to safer suicide care. The crisis team has been instrumental in providing education, training and support for employees. Through collaborative effort, similar training has also been extended to individuals throughout the community to empower everyone to help someone in need.

“Our team at RiverView Health feels blessed by the support and partnership with Crookston’s Mobile Mental Health Cri­sis Response Team in providing acute mental health crisis care to our community and patients,’’ stated April Grunhovd, CNO. “Thank you for your service, thank you for your dedication, and thank you for all that you do for the people in our community every day.’’

Mike Anderson, MCRT director, spoke on behalf of the MCRT when the award was presented to the group at RiverView’s Annual Meeting Jan. 28th: “We really have a special relationship with RiverView. I think we were up to the Emergency Department about every other day in 2018. We feel pretty comfortable there. We really are honored and we look forward to continued work in providing mental health services to those in our community along with RiverView.’’

Pictured above: Andy Oman, RiverView Board chair (far left) and April Grunhovd, RiverView CNO (far right) with representatives from Northwestern Mental Health/MCRT; including Janet Denison, chief clinical officer; Christie Wisk, mental health practitioner; Mike Anderson, director; Martha Wissmann, mental health practitioner; and Shauna Reitmeier, CEO.