Krista Postai- KHI photo
By Bryan Thompson, KPR
TOPEKA — Four safety net clinics in Kansas each will receive $250,000 in federal funds to create or expand mental health services for low-income Kansans. The funding is part of almost $55 million in similar grants nationwide through the Affordable Care Act.
One of those clinics, the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Pittsburg, saw 2,500 patients for mental health issues last year. CEO Krista Postai intends to use the new money to integrate medical and behavioral care.
“A psychologist will be co-located with our providers. So as the physician encounters a challenge in the exam room, they can introduce the psychologist into the environment and say, ‘I’d like you to visit with this person about why you can’t control your diabetes, or why you have anxiety or stress,’ which we believe will be far more effective than saying, ‘We need to make an appointment for two weeks from now,’” Postai said.
They’re already doing that at the Health Partnership Clinic in Olathe. President and CEO Jason Wesco estimates that half the clinic’s medical patients have some kind of behavioral issues, too.
“So we’ll hire two additional behavioral health consultants, both who will be psychologists, and we’ll also hire kind of a care coordinator for behavioral health services,” Wesco said.
Even that won’t be enough, Wesco said, but it’s a good start.
A news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the four grants to Kansas, which total $1 million, will establish or expand behavioral health services for 4,700 Kansans.
“These awards will further reduce the barriers that too often prevent Kansans from getting the help they need for mental health problems,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. “Health centers in Kansas with these awards are on the front lines of better integrating mental health into primary care and improving access to care through the Affordable Care Act.”
Community health centers operate more than 52 service delivery sites that provide care to more than 155,000 patients in Kansas. In 2013, Kansas health centers saw more than 5,045 behavioral health patients.
The other Kansas clinics receiving mental health grants are the Flint Hills Community Health Center, in Emporia and Eureka, and Prairie Star Health Center in Hutchinson.
Grants of a quarter-million dollars were also awarded to three health centers in Missouri: the Betty Jean Kerr – People’s Health Centers and the Family Care Health Centers, both in St. Louis, and Community Treatment Inc. in Festus.