Title
Health and Human Services Agency recommending the Board approve and authorize the Director to sign a letter of commitment for Barton Health’s grant application to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration for Rural Health Network Development Planning Program Funding.
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Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost
There is no Net County Cost associated with the letter of commitment. Staff time for participation on the Mental Health network planning committee is included in the Fiscal Year 2014/15 Budget.
Background
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released an announcement for FY 2015 Rural Health Network Development Planning Program funding to promote the planning and development of healthcare networks in order to: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole.
Barton Health’s proposed project seeks funding to address the need for coordinated, patient-centered behavioral health care services for adult, at-risk populations in the rural communities of eastern El Dorado County. Proposed outcomes include a gap analysis and protocol review for community behavioral health services; design of an operational framework for a patient-centered behavioral health system; development of a network plan for behavioral health service improvement; formalization of the South Lake Tahoe Mental Health Cooperative infrastructure through Memorandum of Understanding, bylaws, and operational protocols; and development of a communication plan for dissemination of a behavioral health “roadmap” of services useful to providers as well as consumers of mental health services.
The Mental Health Division of the County of El Dorado Health and Human Services Agency is a proposed network member of the project and will provide one representative to participate on the network pl...
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