At the Eastpointe monthly board meeting on Aug. 24, the Eastpointe Board of Directors recognized Dr. Jonathan Barnes for his 30 years of service as an Eastpointe Employee. During his tenure Dr. Barnes has served as coordinator of Children's Services, coordinator of Adult Services, clinical director, and chief clinical officer.

After divestiture of behavioral health services to the private sector, Dr. Barnes was able to achieve many milestones some of which included: established a facility based crisis center, played a vital part in the success of the mobile crisis team, assisted with the transition from area program to the community provider partnership, assisted in the implementation of the new Medicaid UR Project, and continued to maintained a positive relationship with the community hospitals surrounding emergency mental health services. Additionally, during his “spare time,” Dr. Barnes wrote newspaper articles for the local county newspapers, continued to air on the public radio and TV, and teach at the local university.

Dr. Barnes’s service to the community has touched thousands of lives and has truly had a positive impact within the Eastpointe community.

Eastpointe is the Local Management Entity managing behavioral healthcare for the citizens of Duplin, Lenoir, Sampson, and Wayne Counties.