Clinic to provide mental health services
In a time when social programs are being trimmed around the edges, and in some cases gutted, by cash-strapped governments, the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics yesterday celebrated an ambitious addition to its arsenal of programs: mental health services.
Clinic officials unveiled the William & Mary Jane Brinton Neighborhood Counseling Program, which was made possible through a $450,000 donation given by Mary Jane Brinton.
“This is a historical moment,” Cynder Sinclair, the clinic’s executive director, said. “For 40 years we’ve been dreaming of this.”
Sinclair said mental health services, which have taken a beating in recent years due to millions in cuts at the county level, was an area of care that many clinic officials have long wanted to provide.
“It was a huge need,” said Shelley Gillespie, a clinic outreach coordinator.
Gillespie said someone receiving treatment for diabetes at the clinic who might be depressed can now receive all of the care they need, not just part of it.
The clinic, which provides health care to thousands of low-income residents and their children, is growing at a rate of 400 new patients per month, Sinclair said. She said each patient visit costs an average of $154, but the clinic is only reimbursed $64.
“Our demand is higher than ever, as you can imagine,” she said.
Sinclair said the clinic helps to provide preventative care that keeps people out of pricey emergency rooms.
She said the new services allow the clinic to provide, “vital, low cost, bi-lingual, bi-cultural mental health services to [patients] in their medical home.”
First District County Supervisor Salud Carbajal gave a certificate of commendation to Mary Jane Brinton. During his time on the Board of Supervisors, Carbajal has been a champion of social services, advocating for mental health services and health care programs for children.
“It’s been a long time coming that our society understands that taking care of the physical health should not exclude the mental health,” he said.
Sinclair said the donation included $150,000 in start-up money. The remainder of the funds will keep the program afloat for the next two years. At that point, Sinclair said alternate funding sources must be located — a challenge she feels will be met.
“We are very busy making sure that this program is going to be sustained for the long run,” she said.
Mary Jane Brinton got the crowd laughing when she responded that she was relieved to hear officials were seeking future streams of funding because, “I’m getting older.”
On a more serious note, she said knowing that those in need of mental health services are being cared for will “improve my sleep.”
More information about the neighborhood clinics is available at www.sbclinics.com.
Comment on this article
Neighborhood Clinics Provide Mental Health Services : 12/12/2009
Kudos to efforts to provide integrated mental health with primary care services.
This writer suggests that daily sound staff investigate and report on the efforts to provide integration of mental health with primary care statewide -- many counties are doing just this and finding that it stretches dollars very far.
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) can deliver onsite mental health services and receive a $300 reimbursement rate, that bills to State DHS Medi-Cal directly -- so long as the services are delivered by an LCSW (licensed social worker), psychiatrist, or psychologist. One service per day is covered by that reimbursement. But many counties are finding that they can stretch their mental health dollars further and also obtain physical health care for their consumers by doing so.
Some county mental health departments have transferred their qualified mental health staff to County run FQHCs, and found that the mentally ill who do not require substantial case management can indeed be well-served. Even case management needs can be covered if innovative approaches are used.
Do some research and call up counties such as Del Norte, Shasta, Santa Clara -- and many others. Those and many others have innovated themselves in a new direction.
If staff of the correct license are selected, it may not require donations and private funding.
InfoMan
Neighborhood Counseling Program vital to Santa Barbara community : 12/12/2009
Neighborhood Counseling opened September 1, 2009 and is ALREADY providing bilingual, bicultural mental health services to some of the over 16,000 patients. The staff at all the clinics EastSide, Dental, WestSide, and Isla Vista have been working diligently to ensure success! Bravo!!!!!
V. Gonzalez
Thank you, Ms. Brinton. : 12/13/2009
Miss Brinton, people like you are too few and far between. You take the "X" out of Christmas. God Bless You.
Steve S.
: 12/13/2009
This is a very good thing. People know and trust the neighborhood clinics.
neighborhood clinics provide mental health services : 12/14/2009
Excellent work and generosity! The population served is mostly uninsured, non-Medi-cal therefore the clinic would not get any reimbursement from Medi-cal making donations esential. May there be endless funding for this program. ;-)
J.G.
Too much competition for services : 12/14/2009
I'm for socialized medicine–how liberal can I get? But I do resent the huge number, and perhaps it's the majority, of patients that seem like illegal aliens receiving services at these clinics. I resent it because it's money that's not available to legal citizens of our country. Try being lower income and competing for services with our huge illegal population. It's just impossible. Four hundred new patients per month, the article says? Where could these people possible be coming from? Word gets out about a resource to "new" California arrivals and it's all gobbled up.
Clinic patient
Contact Us!
411 E. Canon Perdido, Ste 2
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone (805) 564-6001
Fax (805) 962-9101
Click here to view the PDF Edition
Subscription Required
Tile Ads
Most Read Stories
Check out these most read stories.
Most Talked About Stories
Check out these recent talked about stories, and voice your opinion...
- Arrests made in pot shop extortion
- Police officers up in arms over potential cuts
- Local succeeds in jewelry business
- SB woman arrested for allegedly dumping baby
- Teen arrested for allegedly giving pot-laced cookies to students
- Alleged interstate marijuana operation busted
- Baby's death prompts reminder on safe surrender law
- An epidemic of cerebral sclerosis
