Aiken Barnwell Mental Health Center looks out for the well-being of local residents, and its center administrator Lee Bodie is the person in charge of making sure administrative functions are running smoothly.

The Aiken County native has been in the job for a couple of years, and he's worked in health care since he was 18.

The now 32-year-old spent 10 years in the Army, starting out as a combat medic. He deployed to Iraq, and, when he got back stateside, he specialized in orthopedics, assisting in orthopedic surgery.

He worked as an administrator running clinics for the military and then completed a degree in health care administration.

Later he worked for an anesthesia revenue cycle management company as the director of operations and business process outsourcing manager.

I lived here in Aiken but traveled around the U.S. for work and spent time in India, he said. My workforce was stationed in North Augusta, throughout the U.S., and a large section was also in India, hence the need to travel there. My job was ensuring that workforce was productive and efficient no matter where they were located.

Hes been with Aiken Barnwell Mental Health for a couple of years now.

We provide services to people with mental illness, so we take care of the community, Bodie said.

He is in charge of financial forecasting, revenue collections and contract negotiations and writing. He also works as backup for IT, is over facilities and the Human Resources department basically all non-clinical administrative functions.

Bodie said mental health affects more people than most know.

One in five is what they say. One in five people suffer from mental illness, so if you think of the size of Aiken County, the amount of people that live here not just adults but children and all different age ranges theres a lot of people, Bodie said.

Theres a growing need for mental health services as the population grows, and the goal of ABMH is to make sure its services are available to the entire community.

One way is the Mental Health Court, which Bodie said allows the center to divert offenders with mental health disorders into appropriate treatment programs, thus reserving space in jails for violent criminals and others for whom incarceration is the only reasonable alternative.

That was created through partnerships with local stakeholders, like the local government, solicitor, probate court and public defenders office.

The center also works with schools, local law enforcement and first responders.

It is mental health, but its also making sure the entire communitys taken care of, not just the sick and the homeless and people like that. We take care of so many people in the community, and its enjoyable to do, Bodie said.

Bodie has three daughters and a soon-to-be wife. Theyre a huge part of my life, and theyre a big reason why I do everything that I do, is to help provide for them and to support a better community for them to grow up in, he said.

He and his family place a lot of importance on their faith and are members of Matlock Baptist Church in Jackson.

Bodie is also a member of the Aiken Rotary Club.

Lindsey Hodges is a reporter at the Aiken Standard and North Augusta Star. Subscribing to the Aiken Standard will give you access to all the Aiken County news your need. Click here to sign up.

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Lee Bodie: Helping provide mental health care to Aiken and Barnwell counties - Aiken Standard