Tuesday, April 29, 2025
4/29/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Health West Inc. (HW), a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center seeks to increase patient's access to mental health services, increase the number of patients receiving substance use disorder treatment services, and increase the number of patients receiving medication management for opioid use disorders by adding a primary care physician and psychologist to be based out of Health West’s Logan, Utah clinic. With the addition of these new providers, HW would also expand mental health services throughout our health system by implementing a robust telehealth tool that will allow any patients served by HW to attend individual & group therapy with their behavioral health provider, see their primary care provider, and coordinate other adjacent care needs with the care coordinator. HW currently serves patients with Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, Depressive Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, and other chronic behavioral health conditions, many of these patients also suffer from chronic medical conditions including Diabetes, Hypertension (HTN), Obesity, Hep C, and HIV. Patients with undertreated mental health conditions have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, pain, and Alzheimer’s disease. By expanding our current outpatient mental health, we will be able to serve more rural, underserved, underinsured patients and help them improve their quality of life. The Intermountain West is experiencing a mental health crisis. Increasing suicide rates, domestic violence, substance use disorders, opioid addiction, and serious mental illness impact the communities of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), more than 20% of U.S. adults live with a mental illness, & 5-7% of U.S. adults live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming are some of the nation's most rural states. Access to healthcare outside of urban areas is challenging, for example, Idaho has 17 counties with five or fewer residents per square mile. Suicide is in the top ten causes of death in all three states according to the CDC, and the leading cause of death for Utah residents ages 10 to 24. Idaho’s 2022 Mental Health Care HPSA designation shows the percent of need for mental health professionals met in Idaho is 30.4%, compared to the national percent of need met (27.7%). Southwest Wyoming is designated as a High Needs Geographic HPSA with a 2.69 HPSA FTE Short. Over half of Utah adults with mental illness do not receive mental health treatment or counseling, and approximately 20% meet the criteria for a mental disorder each year resulting in a wide range of impairments. Between 2006 and 2017 Utah providers wrote opioid prescriptions at alarmingly high rates. At the height of this period in 2008, 91.3 opioid prescriptions were written for every 100 persons in the state compared to the US national peak of 81.3 prescriptions per 100 people in 2012. Through telehealth, we can match patients to the HW staff that is best suited and available to meet their treatment goals. By providing behavioral healthcare through a primary care setting, we can offer patients additional privacy, and normalize patients seeking & accessing treatment for mental health services, specifically substance use disorders (SUDs), and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). By integrating these treatment plans in a primary care setting patients see frequent benefits of reduced health disparities and improved health outcomes resulting from better care coordination. The overall cost of patient care is reduced as well.
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).