Friday, May 23, 2025
5/23/2025
FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - HRSA Grant Number: H80-CS12854 HealthCore Clinic Inc. Kansas was placed last for performing worse on key measures of mental health than anywhere else in the U.S. according to a 2023 study by Mental Health America—the nation’s leading nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of mental health and illness prevention. The study also indicated that Kansas youth had higher rates of substance use disorder compared to all other states, and the number of adults with mental illness and serious thoughts of suicide surpassed the national averages. Other reports agree with these findings. A 2023 Kaiser Family Foundation study revealed an increase of drug overdose deaths in Kansas from 10.1 per 100,000 in 2011 to 24.3 per 100,000 in 2021 for which 75% were attributed to opioid overdose. A Wichita State University report indicates that long before the COVID -19 pandemic, mental illnesses were on the rise in Wichita, the state’s most populous metropolitan area. The local law enforcement, the local media, and the Sedgwick County Department of Health all report high opioid overdose deaths in the Wichita community. Untreated mental illnesses and substance use disproportionately affect people of color, unhoused people, and those from low-income backgrounds according to research. The majority (54%), of HealthCore’s patient population is comprised of racial and ethnic minorities while 79% are living at or below 150% of the federal poverty levels, according to the clinic’s 2023 UDS report. The clinic is located in Wichita’s most impoverished Zip code 67214 where 42% of the population lives below poverty line with an average household income of $ 27,000, according to the United Way of the Plains. The chronic shortage of behavioral health workforce is a significant factor contributing to high rates of mental illness and inadequate behavioral health services including substance use disorder treatment. While the national rate is one provider for every 350 people, Kansas rate is one provider for every 470 people, according to the Mental Health America study mentioned earlier. Other barriers include high rates of uninsured adult population, poverty, housing instabilities, unreliable transportation, food insecurity, and lack of culturally and linguistically competent care. HealthCore Clinic is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization that has operated as a Federally Qualified Health Clinic in Wichita-KS since 2009, providing integrated primary health care to the medically underserved. The clinic is proposing to expand behavioral health services by serving 200 new mental health patients, 50 new substance use disorder patients, and 50 new MOUD patients in calendar year 2025. The clinic will achieve these objectives by increasing its number of providers, training about three-quarters of its medical providers to be qualified to treat opioid use disorders with medications, increasing access to vouchers for FDA-approved medications for uninsured patients with opioid use disorders, and increasing case management capacity to support patients recovery through coordination of care and assisting patients in accessing social services such as stable housing. Additionally, HealthCore will continue to be a site for practicums, internships, and residency to support the training of healthcare workforce for the future. The requested $1,100,000 for the project’s period of performance beginning on September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2026 will support new 1FTE Advanced Nurse Practitioner, new 0.5 FTE contracted Family Medicine physician specialized in MOUD, new 0.2 FTE contracted Psychiatrist, new 1 FTE Substance Abuse Counselor, new 1FTE Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker, bonuses to incentivize provider recruitment and retention, pay to train three-quarters of the clinic’s medical providers on MOUD to increase capacity, buy medications to assist uninsured Opioid use disorder patients, and new 1FTE Case Manager to support behavioral health services care coordination.
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).