EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) – The future of mental health care in Indiana is starting to take shape.
Southwestern Behavioral Health Care believes it will be at the forefront of that change.
“The amount of mental health support we’ve seen over the past few years has been truly amazing,” said Katie Adams, president and CEO of Southwestern Behavioral Healthcare.
On Friday, Adams stood alongside Rep. Larry Buckson to announce that Southwestern Center is one of eight mental health centers in the state to become a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC).
“I know historically there have been scarce resources,” Buckson said, “but things are improving.”
These improvements will come in the form of funding provided through Medicaid, and while funding is still in its infancy, Southwestern is using grant funding to prepare for the changes.
This has allowed us to expand our services and increase training, access and workforce.
“Last year we responded to 6,400 calls and our mobile crisis response teams responded to 1,105 crisis situations in the community last year alone,” Adams said.
That’s a 252% increase from last year. Southwestern has also reduced wait times: Whereas people suffering from mental illness previously had to wait months to see a therapist, now the wait is just 12 days.
“We don’t want people in jails, we don’t want people in homeless shelters, we don’t want people in hospitals, we don’t want people waiting six hours in emergency rooms,” Adams said. “We want to meet people where they are in that moment and give them exactly what they need, when they need it.”
This model is the direction Indiana Mental Health Resources is heading in. Adams said one day every community mental health center in the state will be a CCBHC.
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