- PNC is proud to support "Business Forward", where community leaders discuss the issues confronting business in Central Illinois.

(digital music) - Welcome to "Business Forward", I'm your host Matt George.

Joining me tonight Mike Unes, Mike is the VP of the UnityPoint Health Central Illinois Foundation, welcome Mike.

- Thanks Matt, good to be with you.

- Well I was fired up talking to you because the main topic we're gonna talk about today is something that's close to my heart, it should be close to everyone's heart in our whole region, our community.

But let's just start off with you and I don't wanna go into the whole politic thing, but you're a legislator, you're a state rep and the reason why I bring that up is because of all the help that you gave to others and that was one thing I always gave you credit for, it is because it wasn't fake, it was something that you actually cared about the people, which now and what you're doing in your position now really kinda translates into the mission that you have going on right now.

- Yeah well, Matt thank you for saying that it's good to be with you and you're right, I had the pleasure of serving 10 years in the General Assembly.

And I think one of the greatest aspects, most rewarding part of that job was the ability to help individuals, help right a wrong, help make an impact in an individual life for so many families in the district.

And I was fortunate enough to serve many years on the Human Services Committee and that really opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective of being able to help families, especially as it relates mental health, addiction services, helping with Medicaid reimbursements, helping with trying to make a handshake and find a bed available.

And I knew I wasn't gonna be there forever, but I knew whatever I did after that was going to have to have some sort of helping people and I just could not have been more fortunate to find this and be able to work in the foundation and really proud to continue to help people in Central Illinois.

- Well I think it's one of those positions where you're meant to be, because if you look at during that 10 year span, I don't care who you are, unless you're in the business like I'm in in social service business, you really don't know what's going on right underneath your nose, right in the school districts, right on the streets and I think that's where I applaud you and we're gonna talk about...

So you went from there and then transitioned, I think in 2019, into your new position, why don't you talk about how that transition was but also, there had to be some feelings there because you put so much time and effort into being a legislator.

- Yeah, well like I said, it's been a great transition because I still have that ability to help individuals and that's what I love, right?

And there's so many different aspects of the foundation, the foundation isn't just going out and raising money and there's the different pieces of the foundation that you're able to do and help make a difference in the lives of so many in the community and it's a big part of the organization as a whole, being able to have a seat at the table of some of the most serious discussions going on that have an impact in the community.

So I'm really proud of that and very fortunate to be there.

- Yeah I mean you did a video a while back and it was called "Protecting the Most Vulnerable" and now if you take that title into what you're doing today, because a lot of... You just kinda alluded to it, a lot of people will think, oh a foundation, all it is is money.

It's not, it's community.

- That's right.

- [Matt] It's community.

- For example, one of the things that is a big problem across the nation right now is the workforce shortage, particularly with the nursing shortage.

And we with Methodist College in the foundation, that's just a small piece of it, but we have the ability to help make a difference in young lives by trying to work with the college on scholarships to lower tuition rates, make it affordable for someone that otherwise wouldn't be affordable so they can get their CNA and get a job in the hospital and hopefully that leads to other jobs and promotions and more degrees and head of household jobs, so it's just one small aspect that we're able to.

- Yeah because your focus at the foundation is education and healthcare and so if you look at the combo of them, if you look at how many nurses are needed across the whole United States, I mean this is not just to the Peoria region or Central Illinois, but it's in the hundreds per city and I find that amazing.

And so, when you're talking about scholarships for skilled nursing and scholarships to take that next level and give people opportunities and I think that is what we need, we need more nurses, we need more special ed teachers, we need more teachers, social workers, case workers.

- Yeah, across the board.

- Yeah, so we got all that outta the way, 'cause I get the question all the time about foundations, I get the question all the time about raising money, but really it comes down to the core purpose and now we're gonna transition into this huge mega project.

I was lucky enough to be invited by you and Dr. Knepp last month and you've got this project that you're unveiling and it might be one of the neatest, like most impactful projects that I've seen in a long time and it's called the Young Minds Project, why don't you give a deep dive of it?

- Yeah, wow, well first of all you're absolutely right, I mean, we believe it's going to be the most impactful and potentially, the most important project that this area has seen in decades if not beyond.

The Young Minds Project is this unique opportunity to bring mental health services for kids, be it inpatient, be it outpatient, be it different special therapies, all under one roof.

Right now at Methodist Hospital, we have the only inpatient mental health service wing for children.

- Now think about that, because most people don't know that, around right?

- Yeah that's right, it is surprising to me, but yet not surprising at the same time, how many people when we're talking about this project don't realize that there's no other service around anywhere in Central Illinois.

And Matt it is heartbreaking, I've talked to some of the parents that have had to...

They've already gone through unthinkable trauma, right?

They're already in a vulnerable, stressful state of mind because their child is ill, their child needs assistance, their child needs help.

And then to find out there's no bed in the area because we're at capacity and there's nothing we can do when we're at capacity and there's nowhere else you can go.

And so sadly far too often, parents are needing to go with their loved ones hours away just to find that available bed.

And so we're looking at the Young Minds Project as a way not only to expand on those services for inpatient, but to really modernize the way we're providing those services.

So in a less institutional feel, somewhere where you can have some outdoor space, somewhere where you can...

The whole area will be of soft, comforting colors and lighting and natural lighting and art and music therapies- - Green space.

- Green space and ways that we can get our patients, get our kids outside and find that holistic approach to healing.

And then, what is remarkable about this project and we don't know of another place like it, when you're healed and well enough to leave the hospital, we're not gonna say goodbye to you, you're gonna come back to the same familiar setting, that safe haven if you will, you'll be able to go back to the same building and just in a different area and get that outpatient therapy that is so much needed.

So you're gonna see the familiar faces, you're gonna see a familiar environment.

And we think that this is gonna be such a great opportunity, it's really transformational and it is so badly needed in our community.

- You use the word, the keyword there, safe, because a lot of times...

I was just on a call today about there's no beds so to speak in the state for this case that I'm working on right now.

And when you look at it, you're just talking just in one area, think about statewide, think about countrywide and so this is an epidemic, I mean it is a issue that is not going to go away.

And I wanna read a quote because you use the word transformational, you say, "This is one of those rare opportunities that we have as a community to step it up to the plate for something so transformational, something that can truly change the course of our future."

That's strong.

- I think it's absolutely true and you're right, I mean the need that we see and the statistics that we have that we have shared, it's jaw dropping.

And this is something that is going to take the entire community to come together to make this vision a reality.

But it's right there, I mean we can...

It's within reason and we're real close and we're real passionate about it.

We see that as our responsibility to the community and we've been a part, we've been in this service line, we were the first in the area to be in the service line and we're not going away and we know that there's a need out there and we're gonna be there for the community.

- Well in the press conference that you had Dr. Knepp and you got on the microphone and when Dr. Knepp speaks people listen and he was serious about this and moving forward and this initiative's huge.

I love it.

So, in past shows, we've talked a lot about mental health in regards to community, not just children, right?

But we're talking about adolescents here.

But UnityPlace is a part of UnityPoint Health.

Explain what UnityPlace is.

- Sure, so UnityPlace came on board several years back and I told you, we were the first in the area in 1954 to have the first inpatient wing for mental illness, many years later we did the children's wing.

And then probably in the early 2000s a lot of the other providers left and for a variety of reasons of the Medicaid reimbursement rate was pathetic and yeah, I mean it's not a profit center.

But we never left the service line and have doubled down on it.

And we continue to try to be innovative on how we can provide these services because they're so desperately needed.

And a few years ago, we merged with... Or we brought on Tazwood Mental Health Services and the Human Service Center and combined those with all of our behavioral health services at Methodist Hospital and within the entire region and created UnityPlace.

And that consolidation has really provided great service for the community, things that we're able to now do more, more services that we're able to provide under one roof.

And it's really that collaboration approach that now we're trying to double down on again and the Young Minds Project has the ability to bring more collaborators in place, you mentioned Headington Oaks that we were at and we were grateful that you could be there.

But you know, especially in your experience with non for profits that importance of having collaborators, bringing collaboration on from the community and I think UnityPlace is a great example of that and we're gonna do more.

- So let's just give the viewers a visual here, here's UnityPlace, Tazwood and you bring on Human Service Center, that's the adult side.

Over here, now you're looking at the vision of the adolescent side, putting them all together because let's not forget, these kids grow up.

And so that continuum of care, that safe place that you talked about earlier, that's the key of taking these kids, because a lot of times when people think of nonprofits, you know this, they think 4, 5, 6 year old kids, we're talking every age.

And when you hit 16, 17, 18, people think, well they're adults, no, they're not.

A lot of these kids have a lot of issues.

And in today's world, we need to combine these and do a better job of collaborating.

I love the word collaboration but a lot of times people don't know what that means, so I'm glad you brought that up.

- Yeah, no and thank you for highlighting that, you're exactly right.

And it's especially that those teenage years are...

It's not easy being a kid right now.

- [Matt] No.

- You and I have kids of our own, we know that.

And I didn't think it was easy being a kid when we were growing up, right?

But you multiply that by 100 now and what our kids are going through, what they see, you know I really feel for them and they need our help.

- Well you know I'm a stats guy and I find I was...

I heard the stat last month and then when I was looking at the stat again, it just blew me away.

In the past five years, 2,600 kids... Is was deflected the right word?

- Yeah so just the... Yeah you're talking about the statistic where we've had to...

Unfortunately we could not take on patients and that's for a variety of reasons.

You know sometimes and this goes back to that institutional feel that the Young Minds Project will help us prevent and help fix.

Sometimes we're not able to fill a bed in the unit because of... - [Matt] Too high of acuity.

- Or a patient might be aggressive and we need a little bit more extra space so we need more hands on deck and so being able to break that unit out, have less of an institutional feel of what we're going to do with the Young Minds Project will help that.

But then also there's just simply not enough beds.

- [Matt] Right, there's not enough.

- And we average roughly about 60 admissions a month to our children's wing.

And so you can imagine how quickly...

Sometimes they're there for- - A week, sometimes it's multiple.

- Correct and in all of those cases now, when you bring these services to one roof, they're gonna come back to that setting, be able to go someplace that they're already familiar with, that they don't have to have extra anxieties about for those outpatient services and this is something that is just gonna be so huge for the community.

Our whole community is going to be able to drive by there and know that this is something that we can be prideful of.

We can be very proud of this because no one else in the area has anything like it and it's gonna be great for our kids.

- Yeah and think about taking a huge empty space and now you're filling it with love, that's what you're doing and promise and safety and hope, all those words and I think that's going to be great.

Another staggering statistic, 17% of 10th graders in Tri-County area indicated they have seriously considered attempting suicide.

- [Mike] Think about that.

- Think about it, one in five and I have five kids and so, that's scary.

- It's surreal and that's the other thing too is you hear that statistic Matt, but we don't talk about it.

And that's the thing that we're real hopeful that the Young Minds Project will also help and that is reducing the stigma that comes with mental illness, because that's gotta change.

There is nothing wrong with talking about an illness of the brain, just like there's nothing wrong with talking about a physical illness.

- [Matt] Cancer or whatever.

- And that's what we do right now.

You know if your child needs a specialist for whatever, some sort of disease, you have no qualms about calling anyone and everyone to find that specialist, right?

But far too often when your child is suffering from depression or anxiety, it's not talked about and that's why I think some of these statistics are so staggering because we don't talk about it enough.

And I think the Young Minds Project being able to get into our schools as well is going to help break down those barriers, we want our kids to be able to help their own peers.

And so we have some exciting things to come with schools that will not only help us raise the resources needed to make this vision a reality, but also raise the awareness so that we can show and highlight to kids that it's okay to talk about.

- Yeah and it's just gonna be great, I mean there's 13,000 plus kids just in Peoria public schools.

And the help that this region has and that you're gonna be able to offer is gonna be unbelievable, so that's great stuff.

You know in 2002, there was a place here in Peoria called Zeller.

And someone had said to me one time, you watch, in 20 years you're gonna see the ripple effect of mental health issues and sure it's 20 years.

And I know you could say, well we thought this four or five years ago, but it is ironic that in 20 years that you're talking about this project, it's pretty cool.

So I'm not gonna put words in your mouth from a strategic initiative issue but phase one let's just say was the adult piece, phase two now with Headington Oaks and moving forward here over these next couple years is really just going to be going all in on this adolescent side, is that fair?

- Yeah I think that's fair.

I think it's also fair to recognize what we talked about before, the history that you can kinda see on the timeline, how we've progressed to this point like you were saying, but it was 1954 when Methodist became the first in the area to open up a wing with mental health services.

And so I think if you think about that and then look at that progression all the way, there's been no lapse in coverage of the service line, we've been there the entire time and I think all of those steps from all of those professionals and leaders along the way have helped us in a culmination way get to this point to now, like you said and you heard from Dr. Knepp and he's got such great vision, but listening to him and Mary Sparks Thompson, our new president of UnityPlace and that vision is really a credit to all of the leaders that started way back in the 1950s to lead us to this point and we are... Like I said, it's just gonna be so wonderful for the entire region to have right here- - I'm glad you said not just Peoria, 'cause this is regionwide and statewide.

Because this is kids from all over, I mean really.

So what are your first priorities on a project like this?

I know there's a lot of work that's already been done, but like what are next steps for you personally to say, yes, we have taken a big step here, yes we've done this.

- Yeah, so now Matt that we know the location of this building and for a while we were... We knew that we wanted to have this standalone.

We knew that we wanted to have it outside the walls of a hospital.

So the question was, are we going to build from scratch, from ground up or are we going to repurpose a building?

And I think the fact that we worked so closely with the county board on this, to be able to find a price point with the county on Headington Oaks, we view this as a win-win, right?

Because we're able to be a good corporate citizen, we're able to help the taxpayers of Peoria County.

And we're able to utilize a building now that is going to be bigger than what we would've been able to build on the ground up.

And so, the next step now is fitting this and it's a beautiful building.

- [Matt] It's beautiful.

- But for behavioral health purposes, you have to be within code.

There's a tremendous amount of work that is gonna have to go on inside that building.

And so those are our next steps right now, working with architects, working with different design people to find that right...

The softness, the coloring- - [Matt] The sensory rooms.

- The sensory rooms, the lighting, all of those pieces and we're gonna hit a home run with that.

- Yeah, well that's pretty cool stuff.

Lastly, what does community mean to you?

- To me without community involvement...

I wouldn't be where I am without my love of the community and interesting that you ask me this because I was talking with someone not long ago, I remember when I first started getting involved in the community in East Peoria in the early 2000s, I remember how difficult it was to go into an environment where you didn't know someone and the more you get involved, the more you realize you don't know and I love it.

And that's what we... We've got a lot of great people, a lot of generous people here in the community and it's a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family.

- Well I appreciate you coming on, I mean this was a fast 30 because- - Yeah it was, it was very fast.

- Mike Unes you can come on anytime, Dr. Knepp does a great job, this is a great project and we're gonna hear more about it- - Thanks for having us, that was fun.

- I'm Matt George and this is another episode of "Business Forward".

(bright instrumental music) - Thank you for tuning in to "Business Forward", brought to you by PNC.

- [Man] Shots, cameras, just keep looking into that one and smile.

- [Man] Right at me.

(Matt chuckling) - [Man] We didn't say do Popeye.

(people laughing) - [Mike] It's not fair, you guys can be talking about me.

- [Matt] No they're talking about me 'cause I just...