Press Release:

Riverbend CEO appointed to NH Citizens Health Initiative

Louis Josephson, Ph.D., President and CEO of Riverbend Community Mental Health, Inc. has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the NH Citizens Health Initiative by Governor John Lynch. Josephson joins a statewide group of 21 key business, health care, legislative and community leaders.

Governor Lynch created the Initiative in 2006 as a way of ensuring that New Hampshire would continue as one of the healthiest states in the Nation.  The Initiative has as its overarching goals to increase access for NH citizens to quality health care and to ensure that growth in health care costs are kept in line with economic growth.

Three of the five underlying causes of death in New Hampshire -- tobacco use, poor diet and physical inactivity and alcohol consumption – are disproportionate to the population of people who experience persistent or episodic mental illness.

“There are complex reasons why people with mental illness have more difficulty getting health care than other people or may lead a more unhealthy lifestyle,” states Josephson.  “One reason is that many of them are uninsured or underinsured for both health care and mental health services.  I am pleased to have a voice at the table, helping to steer New Hampshire toward a sounder health care policy, while ensuring that the overall quality of health care remains affordable and is rooted in evidence based practice.”

One on four NH residents will seek treatment for a mental health illness at some point in their lives, and many more will go untreated.  According to Josephson, “Today, more than ever, we have the treatments and medications that help the overwhelming majority of people to lead healthy and productive lives.  It’s intolerable that the lack of health insurance can stand in the way of any child or adult living a rich and rewarding.”

Riverbend Community Mental Health is a private non profit agency serving over 7,000 children, adults and seniors in the Concord region and surrounding towns throughout and adjacent to Merrimack county.