Mental health clinic planned for Carson City, Lyon County

Vitality Unlimited has been awarded a two-year $2 million-a-year grant to expand its Elko Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) to Carson City and Lyon County.

The Carson City and Lyon County clinic is slated to open by Feb. 1.

Populations to be served are adults with serious mental illness, children with serious emotional disturbance, and those with long-term and serious substance use disorders, as well as others with mental illness and substance use disorders.

The grant is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Established in 1971, Vitality Unlimited opened its first CCBHC, Vitality Integrated Programs – Complete Behavioral Health, in Elko on July 1, 2017, as part of a public-private partnership between Vitality Unlimited and the State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

According to Vitality Unlimited, further expansion of the CCBHC concept throughout Nevada is contingent on the state legislature continuing support of the model in Medicaid.

SAMHSA anticipates awarding 25 eligible providers up to $2 million annually to increase access to and improve the quality of community behavioral health services through the expansion of CCBHCs.

Under the program, selected states are reimbursed through Medicaid for behavioral health treatment, services, and supports to Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries using an approved prospective payment system.

To qualify for certification, CCBHCs provide core services across the lifespan, utilize evidence-based practices and health information technology, report on quality measures, and coordinate care with primary care providers and hospitals in the community.

The demonstration program reflects a broader administration-wide strategy to create a health care system that results in better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.

For information, contact Ester Quilici, CEO of Vitality Unlimited, at 775-738-4158.