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Wright Center for Community Health receives state grant to improve primary and behavioral health care integration
The Wright Center for Community Health is participating in a multi-year grant awarded to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to improve access to whole-person primary health services for people with co-occurring mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders.
The Wright Center is one of multiple primary care sites in Pennsylvania participating in the five-year project to promote the use of collaborative care, an evidence-based model that enhances the coordination of behavioral health services in primary care settings. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded DHS $4 million in funding for the project, which will be facilitated with assistance from the UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care, a nonprofit research organization that is housed within the UPMC Insurance Services Division.
Lou Strazzeri, director of behavioral health integration, social, and case management services at The Wright Center for Community Health.
The funding will establish care models in Allegheny, Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. The model will be tested across a wide demographic area, including urban, suburban, and rural communities.
“Individuals living with co-occurring mental health conditions and substance use disorders lack access to behavioral health services, so there’s a need to improve access to whole-person primary health services,” said Lou Strazzeri, director of behavioral health integration, social, and case management services at The Wright Centers for Community Health. “We are perfectly positioned to participate in this project because our community health centers offer patients the convenience of going to a single location for integrated medical, dental, and mental health services, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services.”
The Wright Center, based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, offers affordable, high-quality, whole-person primary health services at its growing network of community health centers in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties. It is also a Pennsylvania-designated Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence, offering specialized recovery services on an outpatient basis, including medication-assisted treatment.
