yranaivo@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Lenna Schueneman said a case of severe depression caused her to lock herself in her own house for four months last year.

Schueneman, who has had three brain surgeries during her lifetime, suffers from arterial venous malfunction, which causes blood vessels to get tangled up on the left side of her frontal lobe.

"You just have no impulse control," Schueneman said Wednesday when the Cedar Health Center hosted a fundraising drive that was also aimed at alerting the community about the importance of the center's operations.

"Save Cedar Health Day" attracted the attention of radio and public television crews who asked some of the patients to share their stories.

Cedar, which became a nonprofit in 2006, mostly treats both uninsured and low-income patients. However, the clinic amassed an $80,000 shortfall last year as a result of an increase in uninsured patients and declines in reimbursements from two government-funded programs.

Kathy Werner-Leap, Cedar's director, said her biggest concern is that a large portion of her 700 patients will be without a low-cost mental health care provider if Cedar closes its doors. And the Cedar director is also worried that a number of her patients who have a history of substance abuse or incarceration will relapse.

Schueneman, who has been with Cedar for about a year, is an example and has thanked Cedar for treating her.

Schueneman said her four-month seclusion ended when on three different occasions she overdosed on pills and attempted to drive her car, each time ending in a roll-over accident.

"I guess I was a menace to society," Schueneman said. "I didn't know it was a crime to be suicidal."

So far, Cedar has raised more than $10,000 through a handful of previous fundraisers and Werner-Leap said the clinic is looking to earn about another $2,000 in order to remain open past February.

Cedar has also requested funds from the Bannock County Commission, Portneuf Medical Center, parole and probation offices and the Human Development Center, which is part of the state's Department of Health and Welfare.

Werner-Leap said while current donations have helped Cedar stay afloat for most of the month, she contends that the clinic still has an unresolved shortfall from 2008.

Werner-Leap said Cedar will most likely close in about three weeks if the clinic doesn't receive a significant amount of help soon.

The commissioners will announce this morning if they decided to give $12,000 to Cedar.

Commissioner Steve Hadley declined to comment on the matter Wednesday while fellow commission members Larry Ghan and Karl Anderson could not be reached.