Rick Wurth spreads the message about CHNK – about behavioral health and other services

By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter

He was the winner of the weekly 50-50 split-the-pot. And, to no one’s surprise, he gave the gift back.

Rick Wurth, the Chief Executive Officer at Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky/CHNK Behavioral Health, was the guest speaker at the Covington Rotary Club’s weekly lunch last week.

That he gave his gift back to the club is not a surprise at all. Rick Wurth, in times past, served as a priest. He is used to not only giving back – but helping those in need.

The CHNK story begins with Amos Shinkle (1818-18992) – self-made man who worked his way up from being a 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 practiced works of charity and philanthropy throughout the region. Emotionally moved by the needs of poor children who lived in shantyboats along the rivers, Shinkle began to work for the establishment of an institution, whose 1880 charter stated, 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 that built this area’s first symbol – the Suspension Bridge (1867) – which Shinkle himself financed in part.

“Today,” Wurth told the club, “We are better known as CHNK Behavioral Health. As community needs 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, have they ever.

CHNK now provides trauma-informed mental health and addiction treatment services to thousands of children, adolescents, adults, and families each year.

“We’re here,” Wurth told the Northern Kentucky Tribune“with mental health care from the cradle to the grave.”

From orphanage to child welfare to behavioral health care, CHNK has remained a vital partner in service to community.

“Through expansion of Medicaid, CHNK now offers a broad continuum of mental health and substance services,” said Wurth who in 2012 was promoted to his current position after serving as CHNK’s Vice-President for Development in charge of fundraising. “Prevention, early intervention, intensive outpatient and residential treatment, are the keys to behavioral health care.”

A four-pronged approach to achieving mission is Wurth’s plan. “It’s a movement from what’s wrong,” he said, “to what happened.” Moving mental health services upstream, according to Wurth, “is basically using the right series at the right time.”

And advancing implementation of evidence-base practices. “Never implement programs,” Wurth said, “unless it can show it makes a difference.”

Finally – expanding access to care. “One of three people in Kentucky have access to a Medicare card,” Wurth said.

The growth and change have been significant, according to Wurth.

“We have seen a 676 percent increase in total annual impacts since 2014,” he said. “And an average of 36,000 treatment services per year that impacts more than 5,500 children, adults, and family members annually.”

The mental health crisis is real, and Wurth provided some stats:

• Kentucky ranks 26th in state prevalence of untreated youth with depression,

• An estimated 70 percent of our state’s population lives in a community that lacks enough mental health professionals,

• Seven in 10 Kentucky youth in the juvenile justice system have a mental health condition

• Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among persons aged 10-14 and 25-34.

“Some Kentucky counties have more than 4,000 residents for every one mental health professional,” Wurth said.

So, what is the answer?

• Workforce attraction and retention
• Expansion of telehealth and other critical programs
• Expansion of needed facilities in multiple locations
• Significant financial investment

“To solve the problem completely,” Wurth says, “we must make sure everyone gets served. Our big goal at CHNK is accessible. We have some 200 kids on our waiting list; and we will need to double our size to serve.”

And perhaps double their staff size as well.

“Hiring staff is a problem, since the pandemic,” he said. “but we’ve developed a program with Northern Kentucky University.”

CHNK is paying for undergrads in exchange for work at CHNK.

“We’re in the middle of a $38 million campaign,” he said, “and we won’t stay until we get there.”