Gulf States: Louisiana & Mississippi

This primary care and behavioral health collaboration was unique in nature as the collaboration included teams from two states – Mississippi and Louisiana. 

Through the Delta Center, the Gulf States team focused on improved telehealth service delivery, access, and quality, and identifying and providing education on policies centered in health equity to improve primary care and behavioral health. This was accomplished through fostering intentional collaboration between the primary care and behavioral health associations; engaging consumers to understand needs and preferences related to telehealth; and supporting the implementation of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). 

Successes: 

• A Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) learning community was funded by the state of Louisiana to support CCBHC grantees in collaborative learning and inform participating state staff about the model and how a CCBHC implementation across the state through a planning grant could be accomplished.
• Providers in both states received Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) CCBHC grants with six grantees in Louisiana and seven in Mississippi. Two of the Louisiana grantees are Federally Qualified Health Centers with the remaining being state-operated behavioral health providers. All the Mississippi grantees are behavioral health centers.
• The state associations were able to foster an agreement among Mississippi partners to integrate community mental health organizations into the quality improvement training provided to Community Health Centers.