Certififed community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) in webster county, iowa - the north central iowa mental health center, INC

DBA berryhill center in fort dodge, iowa is a not-for-profit entity associated with unitypoint health and is in rural webster county. With federal CCBHC inprovement and advancement grant funding, IT is our goal to increase treatment accessibility, improve pathways to mental health services and increase access to needed services in our community. The berryhill CCBHC improvment and advancement project will be availalbe to all persons with mental health and substance use needs in webster county (population 37,114) and is in rural north central iowa. Berryhill served 8.7% (3,228) of webster county residents in 2022, and is the primary safety-net mental health services provider in the region. IT is estimated that in year one of our project 2,817 individuals will be served and in each subsequent year we will serve an additional 299 patients, for a total of 13,062 persons served over the project's lifetime. To reach our goal of increased access to mental health and substance use disorder services (SUD) in the region, we have identified three key areas and related goals with measurable objectives to achieve the most impactful outcomes. Goal#1: to decrease new patient wait times for psychiatric, therapy and SUD evaluation to be seen within 14 days of referral. This goal will be achieved by creating a team-based model of care that addresses patients' needs during the initial service inquiry. Success will be measured in the length of time for a scheduled evaluation after referral. Additionally, we will also track and fill center no-shows, striving for same-day access. Progress will be monitored by and electronic health record (EHR) dashboard and daily huddles with the team of care. Goal #2: implement comprehensive screening activities to increase access and availability to high-quality services that are responsive to the needs of the community. This goal will be achieved by hiring two care navigators and utilizing behavioral health consultants in the emergency department (ED). Care navigators and behavioral health consultants will assist patients in navigating the processes of establishing care with outpatient services. This data will indicate improvments made in care delivery over time by the number of patients served at berryhill. Goal#3: increase quality in outpatients services by utilizing evidence-based practices (EBP's) aimed at stabilization and health maintenance. This goal will be achieved by utilizing a team-based approach and programming, such as, integrated health homes, comminity support program, assertive community treatment and care navigation to engage individuals in evidence-based programming, community resources and natural supports. Depression screening tools will be utilized to track outcomes associated with enrollment in EBP's.