Cascade Mental Health Buys Behavioral Health Center

Feb. 10--A merger completed under the umbrella of Cascade Mental Health Care will now provide residents of Lewis County an integrated health care model to utilize.

The health care facility recently combined forces with Community Allied Behavioral Health after purchasing the business.

The behavioral health clinic, which had four to five employees, is now working jointly with the 90 employees of Cascade Mental Health Services.

Richard Stride, CEO of Cascade, said talks began approximately a year ago to help address mental health problems and substance abuse issues in-house, instead of dealing with separate entities. The model also involves primary care and psychiatric services.

"In order for Cascade Mental Health Care to remain viable, it was important to look at integrating health care," Stride said.

The concept of integrated health care is rather new to Lewis County, Stride said. Although the services were available south and north of Lewis County, he said his research noted integrated health care was not directly available in Lewis County.

Now because of the merger, residents will have that option.

"It hasn't been available here so this will be nice for the consumers and residents of Lewis County," he said. "If they need those services, they can come here."

By purchasing Community Allied Behavioral Health, the current chemical dependency agency contracted for Lewis County, Cascade will now have the opportunity to provide its clients with mental health services, a resource it did not have before.

"By consolidating, we are able to offer a full array of health care services for the citizens of Lewis County, including mental health services for children and adults, chemical dependency services and primary care services," he said.

Primary care services are provided by a collaborative relationship with Cascade Mental Health Care and Valley View Health.

The location of Cascade will remain the same, as will the location of Community Allied Behavioral Health. The merger, which was finalized on Feb. 2, went smoothly and no services were discontinued.

"When an individual comes in with a co-occurring disorder, which means they have a mental health problem or concern, and also a substance abuse problem, we can serve them as well rather than saying we only deal with the mental health aspect," Stride said.

He said the benefit for the community is huge and will put in place a "no wrong door" concept, meaning patients can be seen for numerous issues without having to complete two different intake forms.

"This merger is exciting because it allows us to develop a host of specialized and integrated health care services," Stride said in a press release. "... Our agency has been in Lewis County since 1968. We will continue the same high standard of excellent services we have provided for over 45 years. I believe the merger of CMHC and CABH will be of great benefit to residents of Lewis County."

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