NORWICH – The common theme over the course of the last year has been “change” for Chenango County’s Community Mental Hygiene Services (CMHS), said Director of Community Services Ruth Roberts, who presented highlights contained within the department’s 2012 annual report to members of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors at this month’s regular board meeting.

“The landscape of health care is changing and as the implementation of large (national) policies, such as the Affordable Care Act unfolds at the state, regional and county level, we find several new entities emerging,” Roberts told board members. She also pointed to recent policy changes in the area of health care, and new state and federal mandates that are often unfunded and therefore, more stressful on local agencies.

“Many of the changes we saw this past year were primarily driven by what we will be required to do to get ready for changes coming down the pipe,” Roberts added. “These are major changes. We have to look at getting ready and paying attention to what we’re doing and how we measure recovery ... It will be challenging, particularly when we look at those individuals with high needs because they are the folks costly to healthcare systems.”