Tuesday, April 16, 2024
4/16/2024
The Meridian Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic(CCBHC)expansion will provide integrated, comprehensive services to individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) or substance use disorders (SUD), children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance (SED), and individuals with co-occurring disorders (COD). Meridian’s priority is to provide consistent access to a full continuum of services for all persons seeking care, including the large population of persons we serve whose care is uncompensated. The CCBHC’s core catchment area will include the 11 counties in North Central Florida where Meridian has office locations: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Union. As a No Wrong Door provider, however, Meridian not deny services based on place of residence, type of diagnosis, or ability to pay. For persons with serious disorders, timely access to services can be impacted by the complex socioeconomic, transportation and other geographic barriers prevalent in the extensively rural catchment area. These include services designed to mitigate barriers, such as telehealth, integrated primary care, and peer supports, the same services that can often face reductions in light of high indigent care. Without access to comprehensive, coordinated care, persons with serious disorders can become high utilizers of acute crisis services, resulting in poorer long-term recovery outcomes for them and further increases in costs for our organization, region and state. Key goals of CCBHC certification are an increased capacity and structure for consistent delivery of comprehensive services across all populations and communities and improved long-term sustainability by increasing service value for stakeholders. Measurable objectives include increasing the number of services provided to persons with SMI/SED; reducing admissions into acute, inpatient crisis care; increasing enrollment of uncompensated clients in Medicaid, Medicare and other benefits; and increasing long-term sustainability of comprehensive services. Last year, Meridian provided services to 23,335 persons, including 2,939 through uncompensated funds. Under SAMHSA CCBHC expansion funding, Meridian will increase capacity to serve a projected 3,800 indigent individuals (i.e., those with no payer sources) by year 1 (a 30% increase) and a projected 4,700 by year 2 for a projected total of 8,500 individuals over the project lifetime.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
