Behavioral Health News & Events
Volume 2, Issue 2 | April 2014
April 2014
Tennessee Coalition for Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services Day on Capitol Hill
On March 18, 2014, more than 375 people attended the Tennessee Coalition for Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services 13th Annual Day on Capitol Hill. This annual event is anticipated by many
advocates and stakeholders from across the state of TN and is a wonderful opportunity to remind our
elected officials of the importance of mental health and substance use disorders.
The theme of the event this year was “Access for All”. The program began with remarks by our
talented emcee, Bill Fondren from WGN Talk Radio. He introduced distinguished guests, Speaker of
the House Beth Harwell, Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, and
Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Doug Varney.
Following their comments, Beth Uselton, Director of Get Covered TN with Baptist Healing Trust, and
Bill Leech, Health Care Reform Analyst with Cumberland Heights, gave presentations on health care
reform and mental health parity. There were powerful personal testimonials by Marjorie Diefenbach
and Angelina Brettner.
Anthony Fox, Director of the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers Association presented Bob
Benning with a plaque in appreciation of his contributions in chairing the Coalition for many years. )M