Elkhart's Oaklawn mental health treatment center to begin providing assistance to underinsured, uninsured patients

Feb. 04--ELKHART -- An Oaklawn mental health and addiction treatment program that helps the uninsured or underinsured get medication at no cost is expanding to Elkhart.

Thanks to a grant from the United Way of Elkhart County totaling nearly $20,000, the Patient Assistance Program will soon be offered at the organization's Oakland Avenue location, a news release from Oaklawn said.

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"We're very pleased to be able to expand this service to even more clients," Chris Schoeninger, vice president of medical services at Oaklawn, said in the release. "Ensuring our customers have the medication they need improves their quality of life in many ways, helping them be successful in the community. We're grateful for this United Way partnership."

Oaklawn has worked with United Way since April 2012 and decided to expand the program to Elkhart after its success in Goshen, Oaklawn communication manager Kari Tarman said. Part of the partnership between Oaklawn and United Way is aimed at helping working families who need financial stability, said Darren Bickel, vice president of community impact for United Way of Elkhart County.

The first phase of this effort was to bring the program to Goshen; the second is its extension to Elkhart. The Goshen program, which United Way has funded with grants for three years, has provided nearly 500 clients with more than $2 million in prescriptions, the release said.

A big part of Bickel's focus at United Way is the ALICE (asset limited, income constrained, employed) research program, which is spearheaded by the organization in five different states, including Indiana. The program gathers data about families that require assistance so it can provide support to those who need it.

"One in four homes in Elkhart County is an ALICE home," Bickel said. "Families are working, but need help. Those struggles are difficult enough on an everyday basis, but can get really serious really fast if you are struggling with mental illness and need medication and might not be able to hold down a job or keep an apartment. That's all part of our partnership."

Bickel said part of the grant will cover software that helps streamline prescription orders to make filling them more efficient for Oaklawn, the patient and the provider. The grant will also support the hiring of a coordinator to oversee the Elkhart program.

Two hundred and twenty-five clients are expected to benefit from it during its first year, the release says. In addition to helping with the cost of medication, the program will also refer clients to other services, like housing or transportation, if necessary, the release said.

The Elkhart grant is only for one year, Tarman said. After the first year, United Way will evaluate how successful the program was and determine whether or not it will continue.

The program's services will begin once a coordinator is hired, Tarman said.

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