GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – Gov. Josh Stein toured the East Carolina University Health Behavioral Health Hospital Thursday to see the work Eastern Carolina is doing for mental health.
Stein urged state lawmakers to pass a state budget and fully fund Medicaid to help North Carolinians who need it.
The governor said the state’s nurses and mental health professionals need to be paid better.
“We are not a poor state in North Carolina, but we treat our public servants as if we were, and that’s wrong,” Stein said.
The governor said these concerns affect Eastern Carolinians directly.
“Several of those needs are being felt right here at ECU Health. First, we urgently need $319 million to fully fund Medicaid,” Stein said.
Stein said ECU Health is helping the state and region achieve two critical goals — connecting more people to mental health care and bringing that care closer to them.
The behavioral hospital’s CEO, Tyler Davis, explained how widespread the need is.
“Across the country, 1 out of 5 Americans experience mental illness, with reports of as many of 45% of those people not having access to the care they need,” Davis said.
Stein and Davis were accompanied by the State Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. Dev Sangvai. He said the tour of the hospital showed that mental health needs are being addressed in Eastern Carolina.
“What I got out of the tour was potential. There’s enormous potential, not only to have impact as a facility, but the entire region,” Sangvai said.
Stein urged state lawmakers to pass a state budget and pay public servants what they deserve. He said North Carolina has not passed a full state budget in two and a half years and has not kept up with the rate of inflation or population growth.
“We’re just limping along. Some things are near breaking, which is why I suggested this critical needs budget. Let’s take some of these things off the top that haven’t been addressed,” Stein said.
Stein said he suggested his critical needs budget not only to pay health professionals, but also to pay troopers, teachers, and correctional officers more.
Stein said he is eager to sit down with the state legislature to address the needs of North Carolina. North Carolina remains the only state in the country without a budget.
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