Opioid Crisis Funding: Health Partnership Clinic Receives Federal Grant for Mental Health and Substance Use
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Catherine Rice
913-730-3680 (office)
913-669-3633 (cell)
crice@hpcjc.org
Olathe, Kan. (Oct. 9, 2018) Health Partnership Clinic (HPC) received a $285,000 grant in September to enhance its mental health and substance treatment services. The funds will allow the clinic to add two behavioral health staff members, increase funding for patient transportation, provide clinical staff training and support other related services.
“The need for behavioral health and substance treatment among the people we serve far outpaces our capacity today,” says Amy Falk, HPC’s Chief Executive Officer. “This grant will help us offer more visits and help patients get access to the care they need when they need it. The training funds will assist our medical and dental health staff to integrate behavioral health and substance understanding into their caregiving, so they can better address the needs of the whole person.”
HPC currently provides behavioral health consultations in coordination with existing medical or dental health treatment. In the future, we plan to offer on-demand behavioral health services via telehealth to the Paola, Ottawa and Shawnee Mission clinic sites. Weekly behavioral health care is also offered at the clinic’s first school-based health clinic at Merriam Park Elementary in Merriam, Kan. This clinic serves all Shawnee Mission School District students and also includes primary care services. In addition, behavioral health services are provided in the Olathe School District.
The grant comes from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, which recently awarded more than $5 million to 19 Kansas community health centers, academic institutions and rural organizations to expand access to integrated substance disorder and mental health services. They are part of more than $396 million awarded nationwide by the HRSA and $1 billion in funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address the opioid crisis.
“HRSA is committed to fighting this crisis by supporting our grantees with resources, technical assistance, and training to integrate behavioral health care services into practice settings and communities,” said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas MS, Ph.D. “These funds enable HRSA grantees to continue to implement or expand substance use disorder and mental health services across the Nation.”
Health Partnership Clinic is a federally qualified health clinic with locations and outreach services in Olathe, Paola, Ottawa, Shawnee Mission and Meriam, Kan. It provides nearly 37,000 patient visits annually, serving as a lifeline for over 15,000 adults and children. Charges are based on a sliding payment scale, depending on household income. Fifty-eight percent of HPC patients are uninsured, and 30 percent – mostly children – are covered by Medicaid.
