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28 Draft <br /> 1 Kevin Hornik: All right. And are there other similar facilities operating in Orange County? <br /> 2 <br /> 3 Nora Dennis: No. <br /> 4 <br /> 5 Kevin Hornik: Are there other similar facilities operating in the general area? <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Nora Dennis: No, the most comparable would be the farm at Pine Lane,which is in Chatham County, North <br /> 8 Carolina. However, they are a residential space with transitional housing which is wonderful. <br /> 9 And they have community activities and volunteering, but they do not actually offer any kind <br /> 10 of billable medical service at that space. <br /> 11 <br /> 12 Kevin Hornik: So, in some, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what I hear you testifying is, is that there <br /> 13 is a need in the community particularly among patients or clients with subsidized health <br /> 14 insurance who do not have a similar land or farm-based opportunity for mental health care. <br /> 15 Is that correct? <br /> 16 <br /> 17 Nora Dennis: Yes. There's no other mental health intensive of outpatient program in Orange County that <br /> 18 accepts Medicaid. There are those that are substance abuse intensive of outpatient <br /> 19 programs, but the populations are very different between those who have a primary substance <br /> 20 abuse problem and those who have a primary mental health problem. <br /> 21 <br /> 22 Kevin Hornik: And so, in your professional experience in education and as an expert in psychiatry and <br /> 23 behavioral healthcare do you believe that this use promotes or maintains the public health, <br /> 24 safety, and general welfare? <br /> 25 <br /> 26 Nora Dennis: Yes. Suicide is leading cause of death for Americans aged 10 to 24. Although suicide rates <br /> 27 have stabilized in college students, we still find that there's a huge unmet need for behavioral <br /> 28 health services throughout the state of North Carolina. And that's part of the reason that 1 <br /> 29 created this facility because on my previous role, I was seeing that there was a tremendous <br /> 30 unmet need and particularly a tremendous unmet need for intermediate level of care. Meaning <br /> 31 like you're not in the hospital getting 24/7 care, you're not seeing your therapist once a week, <br /> 32 like what's in the middle of that? Right. We have to have something because our hospital <br /> 33 beds in North Carolina are overflowing and the UNC ER has so many psych patients that can't <br /> 34 even keep them all in the psychiatry part. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 Kevin Hornik: And,and likewise, in your professional experience in education,do you believe,and especially <br /> 37 given your prior testimony, that there's no other similar facility kind of in the general area, do <br /> 38 you believe your operation of Jubilee Healing Farm is a public necessity? <br /> 39 <br /> 40 Nora Dennis: Yes, I do. <br /> 41 <br /> 42 Kevin Hornik: So that'll conclude kind of the expert testimony portion of Dr. Dennis's testimony. We'd like, <br /> 43 I'd like then to turn to kind of some of the general questions about operation of the facility. So <br /> 44 how is a solid waste handled on the property? <br /> 45 <br /> 46 Nora Dennis: We have a dumpster, and I think it's Efland trash collection. They come and collect it every <br /> 47 Tuesday morning. <br /> 48 <br /> 49 Kevin Hornik: So, it's similar to kind of the way a, a trash would be collected from any residential property? <br /> 50 And how about sewage? How has that handled on the property? <br /> 28 <br />