Saturday, June 7, 2025
6/7/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Project Director Name: Amy Yokum, SHRM-CP, CPRP Contact Phone Number: 304-643-4005 Contact Email Address: ayokum@ritchieregional.org Website: ritchieregional.org Health Center Program Grant Number: H80CS00843 Address: 135 Penn Ave. City & State: Harrisville, WV 26362 Ritchie Regional Health Center (RRHC), a Federally Qualified Health Center, provides medical, dental, and behavioral health services in Wood, Doddridge, Ritchie, and Pleasants Counties, with the latter three being HRSA Defined Rural Counties where there is a severe shortage of mental health providers, many of whom require additional training in evidence-based practices to manage the complex needs of our service population such as those struggling with Substance Use Disorder, trauma, and other co-occurring disorders. According to County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2023, West Virginia's population ratio to mental health providers is 620:1, but this ratio is 7740:1 in Doddridge, 2100:1 in Ritchie, and 1270:1 in Pleasants with logistics to accessing mental health treatment further complicating matters for patients resulting in many rural individuals with concurrent mental health disorders and SUD being left untreated. Moreover, almost all individuals (~90%) with Opioid Use Disorder report lifetime trauma exposure, while one-third of these individuals meet criteria for PTSD resulting in worse treatment outcomes, such as more severe psychiatric distress and more psychosocial problems that, in turn, may negatively impacted SUD treatment retention and outcomes. RRHC will utilize funds through HRSA to expand mental health services and SUD improving access to quality, sustainable behavioral health services, providing trauma-informed services to children, youth, and families, patients, and justice-impacted individuals while improving the integration of behavioral and primary care services to improve health outcomes. This will be achieved through the following project activities: 1) Increasing the presence of behavioral health providers through the introduction of five full-time therapists at our office-based and school-based sites as well as via our existing telehealth infrastructure. 2) Hiring a full-time Peer Recovery Support Specialist. 3) Obtaining specialty training/professional supervision for two therapists to earn the Advanced Alcohol & Drug Counselor certification. 4) Obtaining specialty training for therapists in cutting edge, evidence-based trauma-informed assessment and therapeutic approaches to treat SUD, trauma, and co-occurring disorders, as well as specialty training for therapists to learn best practices for primary care integration. 5) Partnering with colleges and universities to serve as an internship site for behavioral health providers-in-training. 6) RRHC is currently a consortium member for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). RRHC also participates in the BIRCH Project, which is designed to scale up treatment services for people struggling with Opioid Use Disorder and to integrate medications for Opioid Use Disorder with the treatment and prevention of injection drug-use associated infections, especially Hepatitis C and HIV. Further, RRHC is in the process of developing an Office-Based Medication-Assisted Treatment (OBMAT) program. Improving access to care with specialty trained providers and collaborating with our consortium partners and other community treatment agencies would not only allow us to meet the aforementioned goals but also complement our efforts through RCORP, BIRCH, and our OBMAT programming while aligning with SAMHSA's five priority areas for meeting the behavioral health care needs of individuals, communities, and service providers. Program goals to be achieved via the project activities listed above include: - Increase the number of patients receiving mental health services. - Increase the number of patients receiving SUD services, including treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
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).