SPRINGFIELD \u2014 Behavioral Health Network is taking on a Herculean task \u2014 slashing wait-times for mental health patients while expanding its operations to address a mental health care \u201ccrisis.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cMental health is deemed a public health crisis by the (U.S.) surgeon general,\u201d said BHN senior vice president Kathy Mague. \u201cHaving access to trained and available staff who can support people\u2019s needs is important,\u201d she told The Republican. <\/p>\n
BHN is in the midst of a hiring surge, adding 75 new employees to its current staff of 2,500 workers. <\/p>\n
The business is also rapidly growing its footprint across the commonwealth, adding two new patient care centers \u2014 one in Springfield, the other in Boston \u2014 while taking control of six substance use disorder treatment centers in the eastern part of the state, according to Mague. <\/p>\n
BHN currently operates 135 programs in 31 facilities in Massachusetts. Mague stated the company treated more than 38,000 adults and children last year, addressing \u201cmental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities,\u201d according to the organization. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe anticipate adding 5,000 new patients with the new programs and expansion of current programs,\u201d said Mague. <\/p>\n
BHN hopes to consistently offer same or next day care to patients who cannot afford to wait weeks or even months, as they have in the past. <\/p>\n
Laura Toro-Nazario is a practice manager, responsible for Behavioral Health\u2019s expansion in Hampden County. She said the business is increasing its days and hours of operation, working as late as 8 p.m. during the week and offering time slots to patients on weekends. <\/p>\n
She is also rewriting policies and procedures to make the staff more efficient, \u201cdividing and conquering\u201d roles and responsibilities with the aspiration of getting wait times down to near zero. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are done with waiting lists,\u201d said Toro-Nazario. \u201cWe want to provide crisis services, medication management and stabilization today.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTraining starts with people who see patients when they open the door. It\u2019s not just the clinicians. We are also training the administrative staff to be empathic and compassionate.\u201d <\/p>\n
The practice manager says the staff speaks many languages including English, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and American Sign Language. The provider also uses on-demand language interpretation services to break down barriers, according to Toro-Nazario. <\/p>\n
The Massachusetts Medical Society states more than 20% of adults in the state report having a mental illness; 5% of adults say they have seriously considered suicide. <\/p>\n
\u201cYoung people from historically marginalized groups, including Black American children, Hispanic adolescents, and LGBTQ+ youth appear to be at particularly heightened risk for both suicide and suicide attempts,\u201d stated the society. <\/p>\n
Substance use disorder strikes around 10% of the Massachusetts population, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis, and while experts say SUDs are \u201ctreatable and preventable,\u201d the number of afflicted people continues to skyrocket. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of challenges, and I don\u2019t believe public policy makers have their fingers on the pulse of everything that needs to take place,\u201d said Tony Boswell, a BHN senior vice president who is directing the provider\u2019s substance use program expansion. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are becoming addicted every day. Rest assured, the need is there,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
While community behavioral health centers like BHN are likely to achieve their goal of same or second-day emergency stabilization services, a leading association of providers in Massachusetts indicates people will be waiting in long lines for follow-up and ongoing treatment. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens on the third day when people need treatment. That is unlikely to happen. A lot of people are going to be in trouble,\u201d said Lydia Conley, president and CEO of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have Medicaid with commercial insurance, you are likely going to struggle to get immediate treatment,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
While Behavioral Health Network does not rely on federal grants, many of its clients and industry peers do depend on government assistance, according to Mague. <\/p>\n
Founded in 1938, BHN has seen accelerated growth by creating partnerships or taking over for some providers. Mague said the business model allows her organization to create efficiencies, streamline operations and become stronger as a business. <\/p>\n
Mague said the approach is helping providers endure what she calls strong headwinds. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t continue to be strategic in the current fiscal climate, there are service providers who will not survive. Non-profit, behavioral health organizations are at significant risk. We need to survive and continue to do the work we\u2019re here to do,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Patients may also have to change how they expect to receive mental healthcare. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat community providers might be able to offer is group or peer therapy while you\u2019re waiting for traditional therapy,\u201d said Conley. \u201cCommunity health centers were designed to meet your needs, but not the way you think, if you watch a lot of television and expect to be (alone) on a couch with a therapist.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mental health care providers have struggled for decades to attract and hold onto the staff needed to care for patients. Even if BHN is able to hire 75 new employees, with a company-wide vacancy rate of 17%, the business needs more than 400 new employees to consider itself fully staffed. <\/p>\n
Government regulators are limiting what providers can charge for their services, keeping rates so low, it is difficult to pay employees what there are demanding. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe commonwealth has done a wonderful job increasing rates over the last five years, so that has helped,\u201d said Mague. \u201cBut pay is still not great, so turnover is almost a bigger problem than hiring people to do the hard work of caring for patients that have complicated problems.\u201d <\/p>\n
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