FY 2024 behavioral health service expansion - christian community health services, DBA crossroad health center, is a christian-based 501 (C)3 federally health center in cincinnati ohio

Crossroad currently provides mat services to patients through nurse practitioners and physicians, and provides behavioral health counseling through a contract with greater cincinnati behavioral health services (GCB). In addition to mat and behavioral health counseling, crossroad provides primary care from birth to death, women's health and prenatal services, and has earned awards for having excellent outcomes. In 2023, crossroad received a gold award from hrsa for being in the top 10% of all fqhcs nationally in terms of quality, and also earned national recognition for excellence in care after receiving a "yield giving" grant from mckenzie scott (the amazon founder's former wife). This base of excellence is needed to face daunting challenges faced by patients and the low-income target population. In coming out of the covid-19 pandemic, the need for behavioral health counseling is greater than IT has ever been, both for adults and children, and the toll the pandemic has caused is hard to measure. The demand for behavioral health access in cincinnati and hamilton county is overwhelming. Cincinnati is located in hamilton county in southwest ohio where the substance abuse crisis remains prominent daily in a state that has remained at the center of the opioid epidemic. According to the hamilton county public health department data, the top two ZIP codes, 45205 and 45211, have the most presumptive overdose deaths annually in hamilton county, and both are in the heart of crossroad's service area. Thus, crossroad proposes an expansion of mat services and the addition of substance use/addiction-related therapy. Currently, mat services consist of the prescribing of vivitrol, suboxone or buprenorphine at one location. Crossroad requests bhse funding to expand mat services to additional sites, to add training for staff to perform inductions and enhance overall integration of BH services, and to hire a lead mat physician who can provide medical care, mat therapy and supervision. The current contract with GCB, which has provided two counselors that work in crossroad's health centers, is being terminated by the agency later in 2024 due to internal challenges faced by GCB. Therefore, the change offers crossroad the opportunity to develop a fully in-house, integrated behavioral health program. Using bhse funds, crossroad also will hire three mental health providers, one of whom will be a dual-licensed mental health and substance use/addiction therapist with a supervisory license. A peer support specialist also will be added to enhance patient services and functionality when in recovery from a substance use disorder. A fully integrated program will allow for "warm handoffs" for the providers to introduce patients to the counselors/therapists and to enhance care for the whole person. A fully integrated behavioral health program also will create synergy and collaboration between the medical and behavioral health teams, particularly given the growing overlap between the two as more medical providers administer mat treatments and are facing patients with behavioral health disorders in their exam rooms. Crossroad's bhse work plan focuses on workforce development, expansion of access to behavioral health services, and a better patient experience via more wholistic care. Bhse funds will be used for wages, to assist in recruiting and hiring staff, to offer staff trainings, and to promote the mat services at all other locations. More than 600 patients who need, but do not currently have access to behavioral services (246 for moud) will benefit from this fully integrated model. An estimated 100 of these patients will be new patients to crossroad. A total of 420 additional current patients are at risk of losing mental health care with the ending GCB contract; thus, preserving this access remains critical.