Certified community behavioral health clinics, first authorized by the federal government in 2014, streamline care for patients with behavioral and physical health needs. In California, only 22 such clinics are running, primarily due to there being no statewide program to support them. These clinics are funded by payments from Medi-Cal and grant funding from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that covers startup and expansion costs for up to four years at a time.
The CCBH clinics include primary and behavioral healthcare but also provide supportive counseling, medications, therapy, psychiatry, case management and social determinants of health services such as housing and food support. Patients enrolled at the clinic meet once a week with a therapist and on-site case manager, and monthly with a psychiatrist. They also have access to on-site nurses and individual peer support and can attend educational classes.
San Ysidro (Calif.) Health, a CCBH clinic, receives about 74 patient referrals each month from primary care physicians or local hospitals. Having a clinic within the system allows patients to receive coordinated treatment and more easily transition from higher to lower levels of care without losing them in the referral process.
