Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) has been awarded  $250,000 in funding under the Affordable Care Act as part of an initiative designed to support health centers in establishing or strengthening their behavioral health services. and had a particular focus on advancing the model of integrated behavioral health and primary care.  CHC will use these funds towards advancing the agency to a fully integrated care model, and also to implement a new method of screening for substance abuse.

CHC provides behavioral health care at 12 of its 13 health centers, and at hundreds of school-based and shelter –based sites across the state of Connecticut. “This funding will allow us to focus on strengthening our behavioral health services across the agency, ensuring that all CHC patients, including those who have been recently enrolled in a health plan under the Affordable Care Act, will receive access to highly integrated care,” explained David Guggenheim, PsyD., Associate Chief Behavioral Health Officer. The pilot program will be tested at three CHC sites before being expanded agency-wide.

“These awards will further reduce the barriers that too often prevent people from getting the help they need for mental health problems,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. ”Health centers with these awards are on the front lines of better integrating mental health into primary care and improving access to care through the Affordable Care Act.”

“CHC is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative Federally Qualified Health Centers. We are leaders in developing an integrated primary care model, which relies on talented and dedicated staff, supported by strong analytic data sets,” said Mark Masselli, President and CEO of Community Health Center, Inc. “We have developed a high touch and high tech delivery model and these funds will allow us to build upon that.”