FY 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion - The Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC, H80CS00624) is submitting this application for HRSA-24-078 Fiscal Year 2024 Behavioral Health Service Expansion. LCHC is a nonprofit community health center that has served as the primary source of healthcare services in one of the most severely underserved communities in Massachusetts. Our service area is the city of Lynn, a densely populated former factory town with a population of 100,892. Lynn is a highly diverse, hardworking, and vibrant community that continues to demonstrate strength and resilience. Lynn experiences high rates of low-income, people of color, and limited English-speaking populations. LCHC is a pioneer in integrated health care since our founding as the Community Counseling Center in 1971. In 2023, we provided behavioral health services for 4,448 patients through 25,096 clinic visits and 20,532 virtual visits. We also provided MOUD to treat opioid use disorder for 1,108 patients. In 2023, LCHC implemented same day Buprenorphine Urgent Access. LCHC continues to see a high demand for behavioral health services. We currently have 1,145 individuals on the behavioral health therapy waitlist and 248 on the psychopharmacology waitlist. We also continue to see a high demand for SUD services, including MOUD. To address this continuing demand, LCHC is proposing a Behavioral Health Service Expansion project with the following goals: (1) increase the number of patients receiving mental health services by 150 new patients, and (2) increase the number of patients receiving SUD services by 100 new patients, including patients receiving treatment with MOUD by 75 new patients. We will accomplish these goals by completing the following objectives: (a) increase BH workforce capacity by hiring 2.0 FTE behavioral health therapists, 1.0 FTE psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, 1.0 FTE telehealth navigator, and 1.5 FTE MOUD nurse case managers; (b) increase short-term and group therapy to improve efficiency; (c) increase access to telehealth BH services; and (d) improve BH quality of care and health equity with multicultural/multilingual workforce and BH staff training. LCHC is proposing to serve individuals in our service area in need of behavioral health services including those who are low-income, people of color, and best served in a language other than English. The most common diagnoses for individuals waiting to access therapy include: depression (30%), anxiety (17%), and stress/trauma (17%). LCHC will also improve the effectiveness and efficiency of LCHC’s behavioral health services. LCHC will increase the diversity of our behavioral health services workforce by recruiting and hiring behavioral health providers of color and/or who speak languages other than English. LCHC will also increase the efficiency of behavioral health services by developing and implementing short-term treatment and group therapy. LCHC will also implement strategies to improve access to telehealth behavioral health services for patients.
