Monday, May 12, 2025
5/12/2025
Gadsden County Primary Care Integration Project - Apalachee Center, Inc., a community mental health center serving the eight counties of florida's Big Bend region, proposes to integrate primary health care with the behavioral health care currently provided in its Gadsden County, Florida clinic. Gadsden County is rural, impoverished, and the only predominantly African American county in Florida. Health statistics for this County are regularly among the highest risk in the state. The goal of this innovative project is to reduce early mortality from preventable chronic and infectious conditions among people with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), through the provision of primary and preventive healthcare within their trusted behavioral health home. Consistent with the goals of this grant, this initiative focuses on full integration of primary care and behavioral health, expanding on lessons learned during the integration of these services in Apalachee Center's Leon County clinic. The anticipated benefits of this project include increased access to care, improved health outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and an expansion of the use of peers within the integrated health workforce. Specifically Apalachee will fully integrate a primary care team into the behavioral health clinic to address the preventable and treatable chronic and infectious diseases that dramatically reduce life expectancy for the outpatient population of persons with SMI, and provide a full service health home for Apalachee Center's clients in Gadsden County. Apalachee estimates that among the target population, approximately 150 clients would receive integrated services during the first year, 300 during the second year, 400 during the third year, and 500 within the final year of the grant.
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).