In May 2023, the nonprofit Connect Summit County began serving as a convener for organizations in the mental wellness space along the Wasatch Back. Four months later, Connect had closed its doors.
Summit County Health Dept. Director Phil Bondurant said Aaron Newman was hired as director when the alliance formed in 2016. Three years later, Newman was moved up to serve as Summit County’s behavioral wellness director, leaving a void in the alliance’s work.
“We are resurrecting the Mental Wellness Alliance director position in an effort to get us back to the fundamentals of what the alliance should be doing,” Bondurant said. “We've seen a few stakeholders in our community have to step away from the behavioral health realm. We've seen a few stakeholders have their roles and responsibilities shift dramatically. And after nearly a decade of services and efforts to improve access and care, it's probably time to take a step back and just look at things.”
In partnership with the Park City Community Foundation, Park City Municipal and the Summit County Health Dept. the decision was made to bring back a full-time alliance director with a two-year contract.
“To really evaluate the system as a whole, determine what the alliance is, should be and what it can be, and then present those findings to the executive committee so that we can plot a path forward,” he said.
For the next two years, the director’s job will be a contracted position, not an employee, which is why the county issued an RFP as opposed to a job posting.
“We're asking for somebody with some background in behavioral health, mental health, with substance use prevention, but also in organizational assessment and capacity to really provide us with the direction,” he said. “Then in two years, when that contract is up, if, if the findings indicate that this might be best suited under the umbrella of the county, then I think that you would see a decision made moving forward that might bring that under the county umbrella as a full-time employee.”
Meanwhile Bondurant said the county continues to move forward with the renewal of the behavioral health care contract with the University of Utah, which was extended through the end of the year, but at twice the price.
Bondurant said they’re looking to secure a five-year contract and thinks the contract will be signed by the time the county council approves its budget for 2025.
