Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health is transitioning outpatient Chicago-based Geode Health, its joint venture partner focused on mental healthcare.
“[The system] is not exiting behavioral health in Central Texas. We’re expanding it,” Baylor Scott & White said in a statement shared with Becker’s. The health system said the move is intended to meet growing demand for mental healthcare by expanding access through Geode’s team-based care model.
The transition is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 26, according to a July 31 report from Austin American-Statesman.
Since launching the partnership, Baylor Scott & White and Geode have expanded from 13 to 26 Texas locations, including eight in Greater Austin. The organizations also have more than doubled the number of physicians and behavioral health support staff serving Texas patients. Baylor Scott & White said 78% of patients experienced meaningful improvement within five months, and the organizations are evaluating additional sites in Austin and College Station.
Baylor Scott & White said its Temple academic medical center’s inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, psychiatry residency program, postdoctoral psychology program and training programs for Baylor College of Medicine medical students and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor physician assistant students will remain unchanged. Patients in Greater Austin and the Brazos Valley also will see no immediate changes to appointments, medications or treatment plans, and those affected will receive information about their care options by Aug. 14.
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