Photo by DeeDee McHugh-Tichner
LEBANON — West Central Behavioral Health, the community mental health center for the Upper Valley and Sullivan County, announces the recipients of two annual awards for 2021. The 2021 award ceremony was held at West Central’s Rivermill clinic in Lebanon on Monday, June 28. The awards were presented by board chair Pete Bleyler and president and CEO of West Central Behavioral Health Roger Osmun.
The Lilla McLane-Bradley Award for Mental Health Advocacy
Awarded to Michael Whitman of Lyme for his decades-long efforts to help suicide survivors through his work organizing and running support groups, and to advocate for suicide prevention and awareness throughout or region. Since 1974, Mr. Whitman, who lost his son to suicide, helped others who lost relatives or friends to suicide move from extreme neediness, to helpers, to survivors. His work with West Central, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the PaddlePower on-the-water kayaking event for suicide awareness has helped many hundreds of people to heal and to better understand the causes and warning signs of suicide.
Established in 2007, this Award honors a community member who embodies the volunteerism and service for which McLane-Bradley, a West Central Behavioral Health founder, is remembered.
The Fred Hesch Award for Excellence in Performance
Awarded to Shawn Cornell of Newport, West Central Behavioral Health’s IT director who, for the past 22 years, has helped his West Central Behavioral Health colleagues help others through implementing technology and processes that ensure community members have access to our evidence-based mental health and substance use disorder services. Mr. Cornell started at West Central in 1999 is known for finding creative and budget-sensitive ways to use limited IT resources for everyone’s benefit. He most recently upgraded the entire West Central Behavioral Health network of hardware and software in a short timeframe to ensure all staff could work remotely during the pandemic while implementing an integrated electronic health records system.
Established in 2020, this award honors a West Central Behavioral Health employee whose length of service and demonstrated, long-term excellence in performance, as well as professional and personal accomplishments embody Fred’s extraordinary contributions to our mission.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.