Saturday, April 5, 2025
4/5/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - NCHC was established as a community health center in 1986 and has expanded to become one of Essex County’s largest comprehensive primary care service providers for the uninsured & medically underserved populations in one of the country’s most populated areas. It operates as a non-profit organization and holds the status of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and is an active H80 grantee. It is overseen by a governance board comprised of patients, local community representatives, and leaders from the business sector, ensuring that the center aligns with the specific needs and priorities of our communities. Six NCHC clinical sites are in Newark, East Orange, Orange, and Irvington serving population of 48,420 patients, in 2023. Of these 75% of patients are below FPL and 18% are uninsured. The zip codes we serve have high prevalence rate of Mental health and substance use disorders. In 2022, 37.6% of deaths were reported for unintentional drug overdose and 58.54% of patients were addressed for mental health illness alone in Essex County, identified as a top health issue in a community needs health assessment. NCHC a community-based FQHC and accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), utilizes the Cherokee Model that offers a full range of coordinated and integrated primary medical care services and mental health services including individual and group level counseling, substance abuse counseling and psychosocial services; and referrals to psychologist and/or psychiatrist; and medical services. NCHC is aiming to streamline the process to combat stigma associated with addiction and behavioral health services. To reduce with stigma, it is implementing focused and culturally competent behavioral health and multidisciplinary SUD skilled training initiatives. NCHC will develop and implement policies focused on cultural competency & language matters. It is tailored to meet the specific needs of our patient population; this includes replacing stigmatizing language and to enhance language proficiency & cultural awareness among the staff. Our multilingual communication initiative will provide resources in multiple languages to cater to our diverse patient population, addressing cultural differences in attitudes toward addiction & mental health. Under our multidisciplinary SUD skilled training initiatives, NCHC is expanding the integrated behavioral health team with behavioral specialist, specialized practitioner, and a licensed social worker. This collaboration of specialized skills intents to provide effective treatment outcomes for current and new patients with MH & SUD across all six of our sites in Essex County. Additionally, NCHC will expand its current CYBERMED telehealth services ensuring timely access to care to patients with social needs. To create an integrated network, NCHC will collaborate with external organizations, such as coalitions, to promote our services in alignment with local, state, & national strategies aimed at reducing stigma around mental health and substance use disorders. This includes providing Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) treatment and detoxification resources, as well as direct referrals to inpatient and partial hospitalization services for SUD patients requiring higher levels of care. NCHC will schedule shared group sessions to educate patients on primary drug misuse prevention. These sessions will address the misuse of substances such as alcohol, nicotine, heroin, other opiates, and various drugs, which are recognized as contributing factors to mental health and other physical health issues. At NCHC, we use the SBIRT strategy to identify drug use among all new & current primary care patients. Those identified will be referred to our integrated behavioral health team, which offers behavioral health case management, individual & group counseling, and referrals to psychiatrists or psychologists.
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).