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Gordon is holding town halls in Bighorn Basin to hear people personally impacted by barriers in accessing mental health services

Scrabble-like tiles spell out the words "mental health" while a green plant frond sits in the upper right corner.
pexels.com

Wyoming’s governor is holding two town halls in the Bighorn Basin this week. The town halls are part of Mark Gordon’s effort to prioritize access to mental health care in the state.

Michael Pearlman, communications director for the governor, said there’s a reason Worland and Powell were picked for the first meetings.

“They are counties that are identified with higher suicide rates in the state. And so it's important for us to hear directly from them what the atmosphere is like there,” he said.

The town halls will be attended by local and state level officials.

“The governor understands that small communities often have different mental health care needs and challenges,” said Pearlman. “And he thinks it's important that we get into our small communities that really lack some of the resources that our larger communities have, and identify possible ways to address them.”

Both town halls are scheduled for this Wed. Oct. 26. The Powell one will be at 10 a.m. at Northwest College in the Fagerberg Building, Room 70. And the Worland one will be at 3 p.m. at the Wyoming Boys School Auditorium.

The input collected will be used by the governor’s health care task force. Additional town halls throughout the state will be scheduled in the future.

Kamila has worked for public radio stations in California, New York, France and Poland. Originally from New York City, she loves exploring new places. Kamila received her master in journalism from Columbia University. She has won a regional Murrow award for her reporting on mental health and firearm owners. During her time leading the Wyoming Public Media newsroom, reporters have won multiple PMJA, Murrow and Top of the Rockies Excellence in Journalism Awards. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the surrounding areas with her two pups and husband.

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