Integrating Mental Health Services into a Primary Care Setting

Grantee Name

Neighborhood Health Center (dba Northwest Buffalo Community Health Care Center)

Funding Area

Special Projects Fund

Publication Date

May 2013

Grant Amount

$239,718

Grant Date:

December 1, 2008 – June 15, 2011

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

Print

In the Black Rock region of Buffalo, access to mental health care is limited.

In 2008, the average patient wait time was six weeks to see a counselor and more than three months to see a psychiatrist. The Neighborhood Health Center (NHC), a federally qualified health center in the Black Rock region, serves more than 10,000 patients annually. Established more than 20 years ago, it provides care and services in pediatrics; internal medicine; obstetrics and gynecology; dentistry; and nutrition education to the uninsured and underinsured. To address the unmet mental health needs of residents in this underserved area, the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) awarded a grant to NHC to increase patient access to on-site mental health services.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

Created a new behavioral health department with two new positions—a licensed clinical social worker and a community health worker.
Developed a new measure for its annual grant report: the percentage of patients 18 years old and older who receive a PHQ-2 screening questionnaire, which tests for major depressive episodes.
Created a patient registry database online.
Developed a formal partnership with the community mental health provider, Horizons Health Services, for patients to receive chemical dependency and drug treatment counseling.
Improved patient access by one month, or 67%, of the former wait time.

Back to Grant Outcomes