Saturday, April 5, 2025
4/5/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - Thundermist Health Center (THC) (H80CS00454) will increase the number of patients receiving behavioral health care (BH) and substance use disorder (SUD) services including patients receiving treatment with MOUD through a combination of activities that expand access to care at existing sites, train employees in new competencies, and hire more providers of behavioral health and medically assisted treatments. These combined activities will result in BH and SUD treatment for 1,200 more patients in underserved communities in Rhode Island by the end of 2026. THC saw a 38% increase in BH services between 2018 and 2022, increasing patients served by more than 2,000. In that same period, the percentage of established primary care patients receiving behavioral health care increased from 12.20% to 14.13%, while the number of patients served overall also increased. THC health centers are in communities that have seen a rise in SUD and overdose deaths in the past 5 years, including Woonsocket and West Warwick. THC patients seeking care to address their SUD have increased 129%, more than doubling to almost 1,700 patients annually. While telehealth has allowed providers to reach more members of the community, some patients, such as children and adolescents, are best served in-person, necessitating the expansion of service hours, additional providers and more BH dedicated offices. To increase access to BH services, THC will expand open access hours when a BH provider is available overlapping with walk-in care hours to provide a warm hand off and immediate visit while the patient is on site. THC will also renovate a portion of the second floor of their Wakefield location to create four new BH provider rooms allowing in-person treatment and practice space for newly hired providers and training space for future mental health and SUD providers with the NP fellowship ISTP training program moving into some of the newly renovated offices. THC will hire two psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to expand mental health and prescribing across the organization. Finally, THC is launching a new mobile medical van in the fall of 2024 to reach patients who have unstable housing or transportation challenges. A community health worker and behavioral health provider will serve as part of the regular staff of the mobile unit, to ensure those seeking services at the van will have access to BH and connections to support services. THC has an Integrated Substance Use Disorder training program (ISTP) supported by HRSA to train nurse practitioners in a yearlong program. Using some of the same didactic materials created for this program, THC will create a SUD training module for registered nurses to expand knowledge of SUD treatments and complement SUD services at all levels of care. This training will be given in two workshops to a cohort of 60 nurses in the fall of 2024. THC also hosts a cohort of 8 social work students each year who complete their education with hands-on training at THC service sites. While in training, these students expand the capacity of the facility where they are learning. THC regularly hires graduates of this program, expanding its long-term capacity to serve patients with BH care.
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).