Sunday, April 27, 2025
4/27/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - River Hills Community Health Center (H80CS00796) Established in 2000, River Hills Community Health Center (RHCHC) provides comprehensive primary and preventive medical, oral, and behavioral health services to 22,244 underserved individuals in eight counties in rural southeast Iowa, including Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, Van Buren, and Wapello. The majority of our patients are low-income and are uninsured or Medicaid beneficiaries. Nearly 20% of patients are racial/ethnic minorities and 13% are best served in a language other than English. We currently provide behavioral health services at 14 sites, eight of which are school-based sites. Services include diagnosis, art therapy, play therapy techniques, assessments and evaluations, and therapy for individuals, couples, families, and groups. We also offer substance abuse therapy coordination and medical management, and medications for opioid use (MOUD) services. In 2023, we provided mental health services to 5,088 patients and SUD services to 853 patients, but demand far exceeds our current capacity. We have a waiting list for SUD services of approximately 40 people at each of our six non-school based sites. The scarcity of other providers in the service area that are easily accessible and are able to accept referrals has increased the need for onsite services at our health center. Mental health issues and substance use disorders are an increasing concern among our patients and throughout the service area. Over the past several years, our service area has experienced an increase in poor mental health days and frequent mental distress among adults, as well as a rising suicide rate. An increasing number of students are also reporting poor mental health and illicit substance use, which is higher among Hispanic/Latino students. Our service area has also felt the full impact of the opioid crisis – from the use of prescription opioids, to the transition to heroin, then to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Increasingly, our communities are feeling the impact of the “fourth wave” of the opioid crisis – the use fentanyl with methamphetamines and other substances. Five counties in our service area report higher opioid dispensing rates compared with the state and two counties report higher drug overdose deaths. An ongoing behavioral health workforce shortage at our health center and throughout southeast Iowa has made it challenging to meet these growing needs. All counties in our service area are designated mental health HPSAs and seven have higher mental health provider-to-population ratios compared with the state and country. The diverse populations we serve often face stigma associated with seeking out or even talking about mental health and substance use issues. They also face additional barriers to accessing services, including language/cultural differences, lack of transportation, and lower education and literacy levels. BHSE funding will allow us to provide access to mental health services for 640 additional patients,SUD services for 900 patients, and MOUD for 25 patients. This will result in providing care for 600 total new unduplicated patients. This patient target will be achieved by: -hiring 2.0 FTE mental health therapist; -hiring 2.0 FTE SUD counselors; hiring 2.0 FTE community health workers; hiring 1.0 FTE receptionist; providing training for existing mental health therapists through the American Society of Addiction Medicine and other nationally recognized mental health and SUD training providers; and increase education, screening, and services to students through school-based sites.
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).