Therapists in the health system’s primary care offices will teach skills to children dealing with mental health issues and treat patients with more severe issues while they are on a wait list for specialized care, according to the publication.
The health system has used a $20 million donation to add 20 behavioral health consultants to its primary care centers and intends to add 36 more therapists by 2023.
“We have to get to a place where we are doing better by our kids,” Smriti Khare, MD, Children’s Wisconsin pediatrician and chief mental and behavioral health officer, told the Journal Sentinel. “We can no longer treat mental health as an optional thing. …You could not have good physical health without having good mental health.”