Project Address is 949 Bridgeport Avenue in Milford, Connecticut William Oravecz is the Project Director (203) 301-2377 Work or (203) 788-4292 Cell woravecz@bridgesmilford.org https://www.bridgesCT.org Funding from NOFO No. HRSA-22-134 in the amount of $151,000 NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED - Our current Information Technology Infrastructure and Cybersecurity systems are well over 7 years old. Given the restrictions that COVID has imposed on our clients and clinical staff, we have had to make a rapid transition to remote clinical operating procedures via telehealth; clinical staff working from a “home office” and use of video calls with clients. Due to the age and increasing load on our technology infrastructure, we experience intermittent technology failures that interrupt the work of our remote clinical staff engaged in Behavioral Health encounters with our clients. Given the nature of a Behavioral Health clinical encounter, it is unacceptably disruptive to the mission-critical clinical encounter, resulting in a less than optimal clinical session due to technology failures. With the significant increase in remote operations since COVID, our infrastructure is open to more cybersecurity vulnerabilities as well as the ever-evolving increase of healthcare cybersecurity threats. PROPOSED SERVICES – This IT infrastructure and cybersecurity modernization will support all of our Clinical Service Programs especially those services being extended via a telehealth facilitated encounter. POPULATION TO BE SERVED – Specifically, Bridges Healthcare Behavioral Health programs serve the central Connecticut coast towns of Milford, Orange, Stratford and West Haven, CT. Several of our programs extend to serve residents of the surrounding communities of Ansonia, Bethany, Derby, Seymour, Shelton, and Woodbridge. More broadly, our Clinical Service Programs benefit the State of Connecticut as a whole by ensuring one of a number of Behavioral Health practices in the state
that serves the most vulnerable (Medicaid) in our society with reliable Behavioral Health services that offers recovery-focused services to support individuals with severe and prolonged mental illness and addiction problems and to those who are dealing with short-term emotional and behavioral issues that come about due to the challenges and stresses of everyday life to some of our most vulnerable citizens. Estimated number of people to be served as a result of the award of this grant 1,200 served out of 949 Bridgeport Avenue Milford, CT