FY 2024 behavioral health service expansion - the wallace medical concern (H80CS24145) DBA wallace has a 40-year history of providing compassionate care for underserved individuals in multnomah county…

FY 2024 behavioral health service expansion - the wallace medical concern (H80CS24145) DBA wallace has a 40-year history of providing compassionate care for underserved individuals in multnomah county oregon. Wallace began serving a small number of homeless patients in 1984 in downtown portland, oregon and moved to east county to meet the needs for a growing population. After achieving fqhc status in 2012, with phpc special designation, later adding HCH special designation we opened our first dental clinic in 2016. Behavioral health has always been a priority and we contracted out behavioral health support for nearly a decade before bringing IT fully in-house in 2022. In 2019 we participated in a hrsa pilot project for integrated behavioral health services where a wallace nurse practitioner provided medical services in a mental health practice, increasing access to care. In may 2021, wallace moved down the road to a new downtown rockwood economic development campus where the clinic occupies an entire floor and offers expanded, truly-integrated care. We continue to operate our original dental clinic and a mobile medical clinic that offers student health services at a local high school while we plan to open our brick-and-mortar student health center in fall 2024 in partnership with the gresham-barlow school district. Mental health is a primary focus of our student health center. The state of oregon is ranked last of 50 states for overall prevalence of mental health second to last when taking into account prevalence of mental health and access to care. Diving into our service area population, we are located in a more diverse, younger, and lower income area compared to surrounding other cities and area in oregon. Our patients require culturally-appropriate care with 53% of our patient population identifying as hispanic/latino and similarly 45% are best served in a language other than english with the most common language being spanish. Hispanic community members are among the most impacted by mental health need and facing significant gaps such as language, insurance, and financial barriers. Research indicates that adolescents, with an emphasis on hispanic adolescents, are suffering from a lack of access to mental health care with increasing rates of suicide and mental health disorders. With an increasing patient population under the age of 18, we plan to increase our availability to treat adolescent patients with mental health and SUD needs. From the start, we have been interested in providing affordable and accessible mental health care to our community. Wallace maintains a 20 hpsa score for mental health and we often hear from patients and community that the need is greater and the access is low in our service area. Prior to seeking services at wallace, patients have shared their experiences of waiting up to three months for mental health care. Wallace is committed to expanding our behavioral health program with plans to hire an internal nurse practitioner who is completing a program to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP). Additionally, we expect to hire 1.0 FTE professional mental health counselor with a specialization in addictions. Existing clinical staff who will also make a significant impact in meeting our target goals include 2.0 FTE licensed clinical social workers (LCSWS) and 1.0 FTE behavioral health coordinator. With this funding, wallace expects to serve 847 patients receiving mental health services by end of year 2025, an increase from 447 patients to 2023. Additionally, wallace expects to serve 150 patient receiving SUD services, including 75 patients receiving moud treatment by end of 2025, compared to zero and 35 patients reported in 2023. We are requesting grant funding to cover $600,000 in year one and $500,000 in year two to be disbursed between CHC and our special designations HCH and phpc.