New Mexico’s Behavioral Health Services Division Taps New Mexico’s Via Positiva to Lead Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Efforts


Sylvia Barela, CEO, Via Positiva

In New Mexico, CCBHCs will offer a profound way to welcome people who are not feeling well with compassion and open arms, incorporating traditional and western medicines as central tenets, and using peer and family support providers as integral to care.

Via Positiva, a national behavioral health training and technical assistance company headquartered in Angel Fire, New Mexico, today announced, under the direction of and partnership with the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD), that they will be leading efforts to bring the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model to New Mexico. “New Mexico has long been a leader in developing systems of care and our state agencies and local providers have been working within a collaborative system for many years. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics take this to a deeper level for accessible, integrated, and user-friendly care for New Mexicans seeking assistance,” said Via Positiva CEO Sylvia Barela. “In New Mexico, with such beautiful culturally diverse preventive and healing practices, the development of many renowned behavioral health-leading evidence-based practices used around the world; our rural, frontier, urban and Native American communities–we have all of the resources we need for impactful, welcoming, honoring, and effective behavioral healthcare for all New Mexicans.”

As defined by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “A Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model is designed to ensure access to coordinated comprehensive behavioral health care. CCBHCs are required to serve anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use, regardless of their ability to pay, place of residence, or age, including developmentally appropriate care for children and youth.” In New Mexico, CCBHCs will offer a profound way to welcome people who are not feeling well with compassion and open arms, incorporating traditional and western medicines as central tenets, using peer and family support providers as integral to care, and coordinating between multiple healthcare practitioners in a one stop environment that people want to come to and feel safe in when they are there.

According to the National Council for Mental Wellness, adopting the CCBHC model gives clinics the ability to serve more people and reduce wait times. After adopting the model, clinics on average serve 17% more people than before becoming a CCBHC. In total, CCBHCs serve an estimated 1.49 million people nationwide.

· Fifty (50) percent of CCBHCs provide same-day access, 84% see patients within one week and 93% see patients within 10 days. The national average wait time for behavioral health services, outside of a CCBHC, is 48 days.

· Seventy-nine (79) percent of CCBHCs coordinate with hospitals and emergency departments to prevent avoidable admissions when individuals are in crisis.

CCBHCs address substance-use problems and the opioid epidemic:

· Across the nation, 70% of CCBHCs offer two (2) or more forms of medication-assisted treatment (MAT), the most effective treatment for opioid use disorder. Only 29% of substance use clinics nationwide offer two (2) or more forms of MAT. Offering multiple forms of MAT is crucial as some treatments work better than others for different individuals.

· Nationwide, 60% of clinics were able to add MAT services for the first time after becoming a CCBHC, a sign of expanded access to this critical service in communities throughout the nation.

CCBHCs, in coordination with the new 988 crisis number and follow through, expects that access to the right help at the right time, with clear paths that people can follow for support, will result in better engagement, and increased assistance. “All New Mexicans can feel more reassured for themselves and their families when there is a mental health or substance use emergency,” said Barela.

Via Positiva, at the request of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division, will host focus groups to garner community input and provide a six-month detailed learning collaborative for providers who may want to learn more about becoming a CCBHC; begin the process of becoming a CCBHC; and/or learn how to diversify, sustain, and possibly expand their services through strategic partnerships, such as becoming a “designated collaborating organization” within the CCHBC level of care. Via Positiva will provide, as initiated, and sponsored by the New Mexico BHSD, on site provider readiness supports including business, clinical, recovery, contracting and partnering processes, and the provision of culturally responsive, trauma informed technical assistance for implementation. Any behavioral health provider who wants to improve their business for diversity, sustainability, and strategic partnerships, will benefit from the Learning Collaborative, if fully committed to participation. To learn more about joining the Learning Collaborative, please contact Via Positiva CEO Sylvia Barela.

Via Positiva was founded in 2011 as a practice of behavioral health executives and practitioners dedicated to helping substance abuse, mental health, and other human service providers navigate the healthcare landscape toward becoming fiscally strong, sustainable, integrated, and clinically and culturally excellent. Working with insurers and regulators, Via Positiva focuses on aligning clinical, trauma informed, and recovery best practices with business best practices while helping to shape and raise the bar nationally on access and quality for positive therapeutic and business outcomes.

About Via Positiva

Via Positiva is a practice of behavioral health executives dedicated to helping behavioral health and other human service providers navigate the healthcare landscape toward becoming fiscally strong, sustainable, integrated, and clinically and culturally excellent. http://www.ViaTiva.com

Media Contact:

Sylvia Barela, CEO, at mailto:Sylvia.Barela@ViaTiva.com [Sylvia.Barela@ViaTiva.com __title__ null]

Cellular (505) 310-2910

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