Mental health clinics to offer walk-in accessDate: 2/7/2023 SPRINGFIELD – A new kind of mental health delivery service has arrived in Western Massachusetts, one that does not require an appointment.
Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHC) launched in Springfield, Westfield and Chicopee on Jan. 3, and are open to the public on Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for walk-in care. They are part of a statewide network intended to make mental health treatment easily accessible to residents of every region in the state.
Katherine Mague, senior vice president of the Behavioral Health Network (BHN), said BHN is one of two agencies opening CBHCs in Hampden County. “BHN WellBeing” operates two clinics, 417 Liberty St. in Springfield and 77 Mill St. in Westfield, serving Agawam, Blandford, Chester, East Longmeadow, Granville, Hampden, Huntington, Longmeadow, Montgomery, Russell, Southwick, Springfield, Tolland, Westfield, West Springfield and Wilbraham with in-person, community-based and telehealth services.
The Center for Human Development (CHD) opened a CBHC called Gateway in Chicopee at 1109 Granby Rd., to serve people in Belchertown, Chicopee, Granby, Hadley, Holyoke, Ludlow, Monson, Palmer, South Hadley, Southampton and Ware, as well as individuals from any region who already receive services from the Center for Human Development.
CHD Gateway Program Director Christy O’Brien explained that the center opened to address mental health access in Chicopee and neighboring communities.
“These communities had enough volume of need that the state said, ‘You know what, they need their own specific CBHC. … The state saw the need and wanted to create ease of access,” said O’Brien.
CBHCs covering the northern Pioneer Valley opened on Jan. 3 in Greenfield and Northampton. The three easternmost towns in Hampden County, Brimfield, Holland and Wales, are part of the territory served by a CBHC in Milford.
This new model of behavioral health services was launched with the goal of ensuring the right mental health and substance use disorder care when and where people need it.
“We’re here when you need us, come on by, we’ll meet you there,” Mague said.
The main goal is to expand access, including same-day access to assessments, urgent stabilization, medication management, evidenced-based psychotherapy and crisis services. Other offerings include connection with peer specialists (individuals who have had similar experiences to those seeking treatment); help with navigating support services including insurance, housing and food, and skill-building workshops.
Mague said the CBHCs are expanding their hours and services to be more responsive to people seeking assistance. She said before the CBHC initiative, behavioral and mental health treatment often required pre-arranged appointments, which were difficult to get.
“The wait lists are extraordinary. It’s been brewing before COVID[-19], but it’s been made much worse in the last couple of years with the isolation of COVID[-19],” Mague said.
The CBHC program sprang from the Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform, which the state launched in 2021 as a multi-year blueprint to improve treatment, based on listening sessions and feedback from nearly 700 individuals, families, providers and other stakeholders.
In July 2022, the administration of then Gov. Charlie Baker designated 25 Community Behavioral Health Center territories throughout the state. The CBHC designation was awarded by the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, the single statewide behavioral health vendor for the MassHealth program.
Mague said the Behavioral Health Network applied and was selected in July for the CBHC designation to cover cities and towns in Hampden County and the surrounding Hilltowns.
The state Department of Mental Health also launched a new Behavioral Health HelpLine in January that people can call or text at 833-773-2445. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in more than 200 languages, and will direct people to their local Community Behavioral Health Center if needed.
At ribbon-cuttings at the two CBHCs in Springfield and Westfield on Jan. 27, BHN President and CEO Steve Winn said the expanded services were part of the Baker administration’s efforts to create better funding for mental health organizations.
“We call it the right care that you need, when you need it, where you need it,” Winn said.
Winn said behavioral health encompasses both mental health and addiction services. He said the goal is to help people to meet their needs within the community, before a situation escalates into a crisis requiring hospitalization.
Services at BHN WellBeing clinics include therapy, both in person and telehealth, and crisis management in an emergency, where a team will go out to a school, an office or into the community.
BHN also assigns clinicians as “co-response” partners with several local police departments.
Winn said when the designations were first announced, the state had Springfield listed for a WellBeing clinic, but not Westfield. BHN successfully lobbied for a clinic west of the Connecticut River.
In both cases, the CBHC is based at what was an existing BHN clinic, but with expanded hours and services. Winn said in the first four weeks after adding hours on Jan. 1, 200 new people were served, in addition to the 5,000 people the two centers previously served.
“We’ve been doing bits and pieces,” Winn said of the work, but he said BHN, like so many other organizations, has been struggling with a high turnover of the workforce. Though his staff don’t enter this field to become rich, the state grants that come along with being a CBHC will help, he added.
“It’s in their hearts and a passion. This particular program will allow BHN to offer clinical and support staff a better salary,” he said, allowing them to remain in the profession.
The Springfield ribbon-cutting event was attended by Mayor Domenic Sarno; Springfield Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris; state Sen. Jacob Oliveira; state Reps. Orlando Ramos, Carlos Gonzalez; Brian Ashe and Bud Williams; and Armando Olivares, aide to state Sen. Adam Gomez; who each offered remarks during the program.
Bruce Adams, aide to state Rep. Angelo Puppolo, was also in attendance, along with state health officials, BHN staff and members of the community. Gonzalez presented a citation from the state House of Representatives to mark the occasion.
The ribbon-cutting in Westfield was attended by Mayor Michael McCabe, state Rep. Kelly Pease and Kevin Chambers, aide to state Sen. John Velis, who offered a citation from the Massachusetts Senate to mark the occasion. Westfield City Councilor William Onyski was also in attendance.
McCabe said one of the things that has been continually missing in the community is a 24-hour response. He said the new expanded services at the BHN WellBeing center will help fill in the gap.
McCabe said the numbers of overdoses and deaths in the community have been untenable. “Thank you on behalf of our folks who are clearly suffering,” he said.
Winn responded that he is looking forward to continuing to do great work together with the city.
Staff Writer Matt Conway contributed to this report.
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