Representatives from various organizations and agencies around the region attended the first annual Regional Behavioral Health Consortium at Memorial Hospital, hosted by the Memorial Medical Clinic Carthage Behavioral Health team.
This initiative was developed and led by Chaka Batley, DNP, FPA-APRN, PMHNP-BC, CPNP-PC, MBA, and Director of Behavioral Health Services at Memorial Medical Clinic Carthage. “It is refreshing to witness so many agencies in the region come together with an open mind to share, learn, and strengthen partnerships as we all set out to improve the health outcomes of our community! Too often, rural communities have limited resources, and our solution to this is creating space for agencies to collaborate. The focus of the Regional Behavioral Health Consortium is to build awareness of what services are currently available and identify services that our community needs that are not being provided. This will allow us to provide services that wrap around our most vulnerable individuals collectively. We are stronger together”, Batley stated.
The consortium’s purpose was for each agency and organization to share information about their services and how to connect individuals to appropriate care. As acknowledged by the group, mental health services are such a need in the region. The group spent time brainstorming solutions for the future and discussed how to grow partnerships was a key topic at the consortium. The goal of the Regional Behavioral Health Consortium was to strive to accomplish better health outcomes by investing in the community that each agency serves.
Twenty-six agencies and organizations with thirty representatives were present at this year’s Regional Behavioral Health Consortium.
