The 2025 Wood County Health Department’s (WCHD) Annual Report shares the most recent information about health services in Wood County. In these reports, there are updates on how the department is doing as well as new programs.
WCHD sends out its annual reports to let the community members know what it is working on and what it has done within the past year.
The report shared what WCHD has been doing within the mental health field and what resources they offer. Not only can community member use their resources, but students can too.
Mental Health Highlights
WCHD saw an increase of 74% in behavioral health visits since 2024. However, they have started working on new programs to include within the county for community members and students to utilize.
In October of 2025, WCHD ran a pilot program to help serve older adults in the community. This program partnered with the Wood County Committee on Aging to bring more mental health services to this group of community members. This program gave tips to older adults about managing their stress, building coping skills and providing many other pieces of information. The service was brought to them at the senior centers.
“They did a presentation on why mental health care is important, especially as you age. They did some other educational workshops there, which were two days a week,” said Katlin Medjesky, community outreach coordinator for WCHD.
WCHD works with many groups throughout the county to help combat mental health struggles and provide community members with equal resources. Partnering with local organizations, schools, and community groups to reach everyone who needs assistance.
One of these groups is the Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board (WCADAMHS), which is a resource that helps people recover from emergency or non-emergency situations regarding mental health and drug addiction. WCHD and WCADAMHS, as well as many other community resources, use surveys throughout the years to help better plan new resources and events.
“This information helps us identify gaps in services, prioritize funding and ensure that our system reflects the real needs of Wood County,” said Kaylee Smith, manager of marketing and communication at WCAADMHS.
New Programs
Another program that was started in 2025 was the Suicide Fatality Review Board (SFRB). This board examines suicide deaths to better understand risk factors and service gaps within the community.
This board is a partnership between WCHD and WCADAMHS. The SFRB is referred to as a psychological autopsy; it is created to look at local suicide deaths and work with the Suicide Prevention Coalition to create more effective prevention strategies.
This board looked over 17 suicide deaths in 2025 and assessed that the majority of them were by firearm, and 76% of these deaths were male.
“It allows partners to combine data, sit down, meet regularly and better understand the local circumstances around that person’s passing,” Medjesky said.
WCHD recently received a grant for a program called Family Connects Ohio, a home visitation program for newborns. This is a program that any family with a newborn baby born in Wood County could be a part of.
This program offers in-home services where a registered nurse will come in and provide check-ups on both the baby and the mom. This program is used as a safety net for the first few weeks of life and the first few weeks after just having a baby
“We know that moms, brand new moms, they often are susceptible to things like postpartum depression and just high levels of stress, lack of sleep, things like that,” Medjesky said.
This program helps WCHD connect people to resources that they might not be aware of. It also provides the new family with access to mental health resources if needed.
On and Off-Campus Resources
Wood County has many services for its community members, including outpatient care, substance use treatment, recovery support services and 24/7 crisis services that are available to those who are experiencing a mental health or substance use emergency.
WCADAMHS is currently collaborating with the Children’s Resource Center on a new Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit, which will have its grand opening this summer.
“This facility is designed to provide immediate support for youth experiencing a mental health or behavioral health crisis in a safe, therapeutic environment,” Smith said.
This resource will offer an alternative to emergency rooms and inpatient hospitalization and will instead be more developmentally appropriate, focused on stabilization, assessment and connection to care afterwards.
Many students may need to use mental health services provided by the county. There are both services for younger students as well as college students across Wood County with organizations that specialize in different areas of mental health or drug abuse.
“Bowling Green State University (BGSU) students who live in Wood County or on campus during the school year are considered Wood County residents and have access to board-funded services,” Smith said.
There are many resources within Wood County and on BGSU’s campus, for example, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has a branch on campus. BGSU has many resources that can be found on their website, such as short-term counseling, programs held on campus and services within Wood County.
Know the signs
Wood County Suicide Collation has a list of services that community members have access to on their website. They also have suicide warning signs for adults listed. NAMI also has links to help people know the signs of mental health illnesses. In some cases, mental health issues require assistance from doctors, and knowing the signs can help people be more aware of how they can look out for others.
“Mental health is just as important as physical health, support exists at every stage, where someone is experiencing early signs of stress or a more serious concern,” Smith said.