News from St. Louis Regional Health Commission

"Integration helps with transportation, encourages working together and makes interactions more comfortable because it requires increased communication." - St. Louis resident

Early this year the St. Louis Regional Health Commission formed an "Access to Behavioral Health Task Force" based on the progress of the Behavioral Health Initiative and feedback from consumers and providers of behavioral health services. This group has been formed to develop a blueprint to substantially enhance access to behavioral health services in our region. The first set of recommendations from this team has been approved by the Commission and makes a strong statement about the importance of utilizing our region's community health centers as important new access points for behavioral health services. In the words of another St. Louis resident: "If mental health services are in the same building as physical health services, there will be less stigma to go to a mental health professional. When you ask your boss to take off work, you can say I need to go see the doctor without having to mention mental health counselor because they are both in the same building."

In addition to being consumer-friendly, integrated physical and

behavioral health services have been shown to improve clinical coordination of care, so that all of a patient's providers are working together for the best care plan, treatment and outcome for that individual.

The St. Louis Region is fortunate to have a number of healthcare providers that have begun new and exciting projects to integrate care between physical health and behavioral health providers, and increase access to behavioral health services at our regional community health centers. Some of these initiatives include:

Crider Health Center, which has transformed itself from a Community Mental Health Center into a full service Community Health Center, offering primary care, dental, mental health, and other services to the community that are fully integrated under one roof, managed by a single organization;

Betty Jean Kerr People's Health Center and Hopewell Center, who are currently exploring exciting new ways to combine and integrate their organizations and services to dramatically increase access to behavioral health services in our region;

Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers and BJC Behavioral Health, where the Community Mental Health Center (BHJ BH) has hired and placed mental health workers at Grace Hill locations to serve as behavioral health consultants to increase access to behavioral health services in primary care settings;

Family Care Health Centers (FCHC), who has hired and placed a Psychiatrist at its Community Health Center locations to increase access to behavioral health services, and has established a partnership with Places for People, a mental health provider, to provide weekly primary care services to Places for People's clients;

St. Louis County Health Department, in which the Health Department continues to provide access to behavioral health services through a County-funded partnership with the Family Mental Health Collaborative, a partnership of five behavioral health organizations in the region.

The Commission is hopeful that these and other exciting integration efforts continue to thrive and flourish in our region. For additional information on the work of the Access to Behavioral Health Task Force, please contact Avigail Goldgraber, Director of the RHC's Behavioral Health Initiative.