Delta health systems implementation program - applicant: iron county medical center (ICMC) - applicant

Iron County Medical Center (ICMC) received a $700,000 Project Grant award from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy under the Rural Healthcare Services Programs (CFDA 93.912), effective September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2027. The Delta Health Systems Implementation Program grant supports ICMC's initiative to establish and integrate behavioral health telehealth services into emergency room and rural health clinic settings across Iron, Madison, Reynolds, and St. Francois Counties in Missouri. The project deliverables include the implementation of tele-behavioral health infrastructure and services designed to address critical gaps in mental health specialty care access in a region where all four counties carry Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designations for both primary care and mental health services.

The grant funds will support the operational deployment of telehealth-enabled behavioral health services to reduce barriers including transportation limitations, provider shortages, and stigma associated with mental health treatment in this rural region. ICMC anticipates measurable outcomes including increased telehealth utilization, reduced emergency room utilization for behavioral health issues, shortened appointment wait times, and decreased missed work and school days among patients receiving behavioral health services. Additionally, the project includes an evaluation component to assess the effectiveness of the telehealth behavioral health service model, contributing to evidence-based practices for similar rural healthcare delivery systems.

Iron county hospital district, D/B/a iron county medical center address: 301 north highway 21, pilot knob, missouri, 63663 project director: billie JO russell project geographic area: iron, madison, reynolds, and ST. Francois counties, missouri funding requested: $400,000 description. The purpose of this program is to bring behavioral health services to iron county medical center (ICMC) and integrate behavioral health care into the emergency room (ER) care settings of ICMC's hospital and rural health clinic using telehealth services to support the need for behavioral health services in the region. This project will additionally examine the effectiveness of a tele behavioral health project model. ICMC expects to see the following potential long-term improvements: increased utilization of effective tele behavioral health services, decreased stigma regarding behavioral/mental health, reduced ER utilization for behavioral health issues, reduced wait times for appointments, improved social wellbeing, and decreased missed work/school days for behavioral health patients helping to relieve economic burdens. Needs to be addressed. Rural residents encounter difficulties in accessing healthcare providers, particularly specialty care and behavioral health care. In addition to accessibility, subpopulations may face unique challenges and barriers including transportation availability, low health literacy, privacy and stigma concerns, as well as difficulties understanding and navigating complex insurance plans, online portals, and other technology-based systems. The shortage of available professionals in rural areas exacerbates the barriers, leading to unmet healthcare needs and declining health status for many in the ICMC region. Health care services are limited in the four-county ICMC region. All four counties have hpsa designations for primary care and mental health care. Iron county has a high needs geographic hpsa designation for primary care. Madison, reynolds, and ST. Francois counties have low-income population designations for primary care. All four counties have low-income population designations for mental health care. Proposed services. The program focus area that ICMC will base IT's project on will be "expansion of telehealth services and financial/operational systems enhancements." ICMC proposes to implement a new tele behavioral health program in both the ER and RHC settings. The ER will have 24/7 coverage for behavioral health patients and the RHC will provide services two (2) days per week to assess and treat patients for up to 46 weeks of the year, allowing for vacation periods for the behavioral health professionals. Populations served. The target population includes all residents in the service area, with particular emphasis on those needing behavioral health services as well as those with disabilities, the elderly, those with language barriers, those with health literacy barriers, and other certain socio-economic indicators.