Somerset County farmer recognized as Rural Health Leader of the Year

Denny Hutchison hadn't hit rock bottom, but he knew he was sliding rapidly in that direction and soon would not be able to stop.

It was the 1970s. A divorce, some deaths in his family and some other things were pulling the life out of the Somerset County farmer. He wasn't doing well.

Then, a friend of his had enough courage to say to him, "How are you doing?"

Hutchison did not hit rock bottom. He knew he needed help. After his friend reached out to him, he reached out to a therapist and found the help he needed.

"I think when a person really hits rock bottom, I don't know, but I think that they are where they have no hope. And people saying there are people who love you, it does not help. You need to talk about what is bothering you. And sometimes people don't know what it is," he said.

Since that time in his life when he was struggling with his mental health, Hutchison has had life-threatening situations, such heart and back operations, but "the reason that I'm still here is because that person (in the 1970s) had enough courage to ask me how I was doing."

Hutchison and his wife, Lori, own an equestrian farm near Windber.

Hutchison learned and grew through personal experiences and has tirelessly advocated for local agricultural communities' mental health needs. This has not gone unnoticed by the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, formed in 1991 as a joint partnership between the federal government, Pennsylvania and Penn State University.

The Somerset County farmer, husband, father, grandfather and friend received the Rural Health Leader of the Year award in November.

Hutchison, past president of the Somerset County Farm Bureau, assisted in developing a crisis line and underwriting training focused on learning about the stresses in the agricultural community. The program recognizes and helps someone in that community who is in crisis. It develops mechanisms to mitigate the stress. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Agricultural Promotion Committee from Somerset County.

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During the height of COVID-19, Hutchison raised awareness in the Somerset County farming community about rural stress and mental burdens on farmers and their families.

Hutchison was nominated by Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding; the Rev. Nila Cogan of St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Hooversville; Pennsylvania Rural Development Council Executive Director Mark Critz; James Wyler, from Ambulatory and Community Behavioral Health Network Services at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital; and Andrea Brown from UPMC.

When Critz sent out a notice about the Rural Health Leader of the Year, Cogan said she instantly thought of "Denny. He needed to be recognized. He is a wonderful asset in the whole program," she said.

Critz agreed and reached out to Redding, who also agreed, and on down the line.

Cogan has known Hutchison for years, working in mental health and through the Farm Bureau.

"He has dedicated his life with working with others," she said. "Anytime you are around Denny, one-on-one, he always ask how you are doing, and he really listens."

How it began

Hutchison worked for almost 37 years as a counselor for the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

What he discovered is "people's perception and the world's perception of mental health, compared to having a physical disability, has just been night and day for many, many years."

He thinks that is because "It is a perception of someone with mental health issues, it's a weakness. And that is just so untrue. The perception that people just need to handle their own problems. What ends up happening is that people suppress these feelings. They don't talk about them. They just get worse and worse and worse, which leads to self medication, either with alcohol or drugs, or suicide."

The farming industry in rural Somerset County has lost some of its own to suicide.

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In the past three years, however, a good thing that came out of COVID-19 is proliferating virtual medical treatment, where someone can sit in their home where they are comfortable and talk to a therapist, Hutchison said.

Another good thing is people like Michael Phelps, an Olympian swimmer, and Simone Biles, an Olympian gymnast, stepping up on national and international stages and saying: "I have mental health problems. It is real. It's OK, not to feel OK," Hutchison said.

"We as a society can talk about a broken leg, or bad back problems, and we can recommend a good surgeon or a good dentist. We need to make that next step and recommend a good therapist to each other. To be able to say to each other, 'Are you doing OK with your mental health?' And if you are the person having mental health issues, to have the courage to ask for help," Hutchison said.

He talked about those he knows best: farmers.

"Farmers in general are very independent and are very strong and are not willing to ask for help and spend a lot of time alone. Living in a tractor, either planting, tilling or harvesting, a lot of time alone with their thoughts, and again are very reluctant to talk about mental health issues," he said.

Developing a rope to grab

About three years ago, the suicide rate in agriculture rose rapidly nationwide. At the same time, virtual medicine became more popular and more available, and it was almost the perfect timing for everything to take off, Hutchison said.

President Andy Rush of Somerset UPMC had done a Zoom meeting about telemedicine and "it just kind of clicked with me that 'Wow, what an opportunity.'"

He was introduced to more movers and shakers in the medical field and in 2020 developed a brochure on mental health generally and the agricultural communities specifically to see what is available.

He reached out to veterinarians, feed and equipment dealers and others who interact with farmers to alert them to warning signs of stress and depression and placed the brochures in those places and others for the farmers and anyone else to pick up, according to the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health.

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"Still, people are guarded," Hutchison said. He is not sure how the brochures are helping the community, but when he goes to businesses that farmers frequent and checks if he needs to put out more brochures, often he finds that he does. That pleases him.

Hutchison is now working with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau to raise awareness and make treatment more accessible for Pennsylvania's farmers.

Meantime, he reaches out to others in the community to raise awareness from his other interests that include serving as treasurer and executive board member of the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce. He is a board member of the United Way of Laurel Highlands and is a member of the Paint Township Planning Committee.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Recognizing, helping farmers in crisis draws state award for local man