AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation Grant Funds Behavioral Health Urgent Care In Southeast Indiana

Thanks in part to a grant from the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation, residents of southeast Indiana will for the first time be able to get behavioral health care quickly without visiting a hospital emergency room.

The foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to LifeSpring Health Systems to help fund its planned behavioral health urgent care center in Jeffersonville. The clinic, the first of its kind in southeastern Indiana, is expected to open this spring.

Indiana leaders are looking to “treat mental health with seriousness,” as data from the Indiana Family & Social Services Administration shows mental illness has become more common among southeast Indiana adults (PDF) during the past decade.

In addition to providing acute behavioral health services such as psychiatric assessments and urgent interventions, the behavioral health urgent care center will offer special care for those who have experienced high numbers of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Research has found that the toxic stress stemming from prolonged exposure to ACEs can lead to more emergency room usage.

“When a child suffers an ACE or a family member experiences the lifetime consequences of one, early intervention is critical. And urgent care centers can fill this need,” said AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation Director Lauren Maloney. “This new clinic will be a valuable resource that will reduce barriers to behavioral health care for children and adults alike.”

LifeSpring Health Systems anticipates the behavioral health urgent care center will serve 500 patients in its first year.

“Urgent care centers facilitate access to timely care that doesn’t require an emergency room visit. We believe this option should be available for people dealing with behavioral health challenges, too,” said LifeSpring Health Systems CEO Beth Keeney, DrPH. “Thanks to the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation, we’ll be able to provide a resource that will benefit the region’s adults immediately and help protect its children long-term.”

The AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation presented the grant at LifeSpring Health Systems’ Integrated Treatment Center in Jeffersonville.