Thursday, April 3, 2025
4/3/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - North East Medical Services (NEMS, Health Center Program Grant Number H80CS00221) is a private, non-profit community health center serving medically underserved areas and populations in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. NEMS is requesting $600,000 in Year 1 and $500,000 in Year 2 to support NEMS Behavioral Health Service Expansion 2024 through the Fiscal Year 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion (BHSE) funding opportunity. With over 50 years of experience serving the community, NEMS provides high-quality primary and preventive health care services, including medical, dental, behavioral health, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, complementary/integrative medicine, social services, and specialty care. In 2023, NEMS cared for over 72,000 patients through more than 450,000 visits. Among those served, 83.7% are Asian, 75.8% are covered by Medi-Cal (Medicaid or dually eligible Medicare/Medicaid), 84.2% had incomes at 200% and below the Federal Poverty Level (among those assessed), and 75% are better served in a language other than English. In 2023, NEMS served 318 patients diagnosed with alcohol-related disorders; 223 patients with other substance-related disorders (excluding tobacco); 2,528 patients with depression and other mood disorders; and 2,641 patients with anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Over the past decade, NEMS has made great strides in developing an integrated behavioral health program, growing our linguistically competent direct services team from just under 2.0 FTE in 2013 to roughly 15.45 FTE in 2023 (including about 4.0 FTE Behavioral Health Linkage Workers). Much of the growth is thanks to HRSA’s many behavioral health (BH) and substance use disorder (SUD) funding opportunities since 2017. However, our BH and SUD offerings have not kept pace with the significant growth/diversification of and struggles faced by our patient population: the number of adult patients age 18 and older has increased by 20.7% from 2013 to 2023; NEMS has expanded into more diverse and challenging areas, including San Francisco’s Tenderloin district where drug use and homelessness is rampant; and the broader community continues to recover and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly exacerbated the underlying hate and violence against the Asian community. Moreover, BH and SUD services continue to be underdiagnosed and underutilized among the Asian community due to prevailing cultural beliefs, stigma, loss of face, denial, and linguistic or socioeconomic barriers. Medical providers are often unfamiliar with SUD service resources available in the community; and may lack proper knowledge, techniques, decision support and patient agreement to initiate SUD services and/or medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). Specialty mental health and substance abuse care services must be accessed at the county level, which can be especially challenging for patients with limited English proficiency to navigate and seek out. Funding from the BHSE opportunity will support the hiring of 2.0 FTE new BH therapists and 1.0 FTE new behavioral health linkage worker to support our high need clinics in San Francisco and San Mateo counties; an existing NEMS primary care provider at our Tenderloin clinic to act as a physician champion for SUD/MOUD services; consultation and decision support from two part-time contracted psychiatrists; EHR application and data analyst support; and specialized motivational interviewing/motivational enhancement therapy trainings for BH and primary care providers to support BH/SUD/MOUD patients. Funds will also support resources for contingency management , to encourage positive behavioral changes among SUD/MOUD patients. NEMS aims to meet the following grant objectives by the end of 2025 (patient counts may be duplicated): 400 patients for new mental health services, 24 new SUD services patients, and 24 new patients receiving treatment with 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).