FY 2024 behavioral health service expansion - applicant: northwest health services address: 2303 village DR, ST

Joseph, MO 64506 grant number: H80CS00671 project director: robyn armstrong. Northwest health services (NHS) is requesting $1,100,000 ($600,000 year 1; $500,000 year 2) to support the work of the NHS behavioral health service expansion (BHSE). The project will focus on increasing access to behavioral health services through expanding mental health and substance use disorder services to the service area. The scope of the project includes approved service sites, services, providers, service area, and target population that is supported under the approved health center budget. NHS is a federally qualified health center and serves a rural population area. Service area/populations to be served. Northwest health services serves sixteen counties across northwest missouri including andrew, atchison, buchanan, caldwell, clinton, daviess, dekalb, gentry, grundy, harrison, holt, livingston, mercer, nodaway, platte, and worth counties in northwest missouri. The BHSE target service area covers the entire service area. The target population will include the full patient population at NHS. Description. NHS will use these funds to significantly expand behavioral health and SUD services provided in-house at NHS locations through expanding behavioral health staffing and integrating mental health services within the primary care setting. Needs to be addressed. In missouri state fiscal year 2022, approximately 4,297 individuals in the sixteen-county region received clinical services from the division of behavioral health psychiatric program. Most diagnoses were related to depression, anxiety and fear disorders, and trauma and stress related disorders. Indicators reflect 48.6% of those receiving treatment also had a substance use disorder and 6.3% had a CO-occurring developmental disability in the sixteen-county region. The service area has health professional shortage area (HPSA) designations for mental health care in all counties. The sixteen-county regi on has 40.64% of the population living in an area affected by a mental health HPSA with 88.27% of the HPSA population being underserved (US census, 2018-22). The mental health provider ratio is 66.07 for the sixteen-county region. This is significantly lower than state (124.66) and national (176.26) rates. There were 690 deaths of despair in the sixteen-county region which includes deaths from intentional self-harm, alcohol-related disease, and drug overdose from 2016-2020 for a rate of 42.3 per 100,000, compared to state (54.1) and national (47.0) rates (CDC, 2016-20). According to the missouri department of health and senior services opioid dashboard, there were 330 drug overdose deaths (all substances) in the sixteen-county area from 2017-2022. How the project will increase the number of patients receiving mental health and SUD services including moud. Services will be increased through the addition of clinical staff, expansion of available behavioral health/SUD services, use of telehealth, staff training, and community marketing and education.