Community Health Scores $2.5M Grant
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWest Lafayette-based North Central Health Services has awarded a nearly $2.5 million grant to Community Health Network Foundation in Indianapolis. The eight-year grant will support Community Health’s psychiatry residency program, which launched in July.
Community Health says the grant includes funding for residency program costs not covered by current Medicare funding sources, as well as additional faculty from various mental health specialties. The program, which received accreditation in 2015, will train up to four residents per class.
"As our state and nation face a shortage of psychiatrists, the demand for mental health services continues to grow," said Kathy Zoppi, chief academic officer of Community. "Community is dedicated to addressing these needs by training the next generation of psychiatry residents, preparing them to succeed at the forefront of the ever-evolving role of psychiatry in the delivery of healthcare. This funding will go far in making that workforce development goal a reality while also better meeting the current need for mental health services across Central Indiana."
Community says 43 counties in Indiana did not have a practicing psychiatrist in 2015 while one in four Hoosiers experience a medically-diagnosable mental health condition each year.
"This grant funding is all about helping to connect more Hoosiers with the resources they need for renewed health and healing," said Ann Cunningham, associate director of the program. "Our psychiatry residency offers participants the advantage of learning through Community’s behavioral health care programs. Excellent training will translate into exceptional care for more men, women and children who turn to Community in their time of need."
Community Health Network is currently working with the state of Indiana to develop the Indiana Neuro-Diagnostic Institute on the campus of Community East Hospital in Indianapolis. Governor Mike Pence has said the $120 million facility, which is expected to open in 2018, will provide major advancements to the state’s public mental health delivery system.