by By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
He was the winner of the weekly 50-50 split-the-pot. And to no one’s surprise, he returned the gift.
Rick Wurth, the Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky/CHNK Behavioral Health, was a guest speaker at the Covington Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon last week.
It is no surprise that he gave his gift back to the club. Rick Wurth used to be a priest. He is used to not only giving back, but also helping those in need.
The CHNK story begins with Amos Shinkle (1818-18992), a self-made man who worked his way up from flatboat cook on the Ohio River to building and owning steamboats. In the 1840s he moved to Covington and became a successful businessman and civic leader.
A devout Methodist, Amos engaged in charitable and philanthropy activities throughout the region. Emotionally moved by the needs of poor children living in slums along the rivers, Shinkle began work to establish an institution, whose 1880 bylaws stated that they would care for “the friendless, homeless, unprotected children or orphans.” ‘
The Covington Protestant Children’s Home, which opened in 1882, was the result of his vision and generosity.
Shinkle is perhaps best remembered as president of the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge Company which built the area’s most important symbol – the Suspension Bridge (1867) – which Shinkle himself partially financed.
“Today,” Wurth told the club, “we are better known as CHNK Behavioral Health. As the needs of the community have evolved,” he continued, “we have embraced our value of growth and change to evolve with the community. In short, times have changed, and so have we.”
Boy, did they ever.
CHNK now provides trauma-informed mental health and addiction care to thousands of children, adolescents, adults and families each year.
“We’re here,” Wurth said to the Northern Kentucky Tribune“with mental health care from cradle to grave.”
From orphanages to child welfare to behavioral health care, CHNK has remained an essential partner serving the community.
“Through the expansion of Medicaid, CHNK now offers a broad continuum of mental health services and resources,” said Wurth, who was promoted to his current position in 2012 after serving as CHNK’s vice president of development responsible for fundraising. “Prevention, early intervention, intensive outpatient and residential treatment are the keys to behavioral health care.”
A four-pronged approach to achieving the mission is Wurth’s plan. “It’s a movement from what’s wrong,” he said, “to what happened.” Moving mental health care upstream, according to Wurth, “really means using the right sequences at the right time.”
And promoting the implementation of evidence-based practices. “Never implement programs,” Wurth said, “unless it can be shown that it makes a difference.”
Finally – expanding access to care. “One in three people in Kentucky have access to a Medicare card,” Wurth said.
According to Wurth, the growth and change have been significant.
“We have seen a 676 percent increase in total annual impact since 2014,” he said. “And an average of 36,000 treatment services per year, impacting more than 5,500 children, adults and family members annually.”
The mental health crisis is real and Wurth provided some statistics:
• Kentucky ranks 26th in the prevalence of untreated youth with depression,
• An estimated 70 percent of our state’s population lives in a community where there are insufficient mental health professionals,
• Seven in 10 Kentucky youth in the juvenile justice system have a mental illness
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 14 and 25 to 34.
“Some counties in Kentucky have more than 4,000 residents per mental health professional,” Wurth said.
So, what’s the answer?
• Attracting and retaining staff
• Expanding telehealth and other critical programs
• Expansion of required facilities at multiple locations
• Significant financial investment
“To completely solve the problem,” says Wurth, “we need to make sure everyone is helped. Our big goal at CHNK is access. We have approximately 200 children on our waiting list; and we will have to double our size to serve.”
And maybe double their staff size too.
“Hiring has been an issue since the pandemic,” he said. “but we have developed a program with Northern Kentucky University.”
CHNK pays for students in exchange for work at CHNK.
“We are in the middle of a $38 million campaign,” he said, “and we won’t rest until we get there.”
