State Health Secretary Hears Berkshire County's Mental Health Needs
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| Health & Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah at the Brien Center facility with division Director Lindsay Ciepiela. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire County has unique needs and approaches to address mental health in the community–something mental health professionals and local officials highlighted to Health & Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah during his visit to Pittsfield.
Mahaniah leads the state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which comprises 11 agencies and the MassHealth program and oversees the state's mental health policies, programs, funding, and access to care.
The aim of his statewide community mental health tour is to understand what's happening all over the state with mental health, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said.
His first stop in Pittsfield on Wednesday was County Ambulance, which focused on the mental health of older adults and the collaboration effort with Berkshire Regional Planning to create a program of peer mentorship for older adults, she said.
"It was the first time I heard about the peer support program they're trying to put together between BRPC and County Ambulance. So, we're in a position of being learners. Listeners first, that's the first job of a legislator," Farley-Bouvier said.
"We're happy to have these opportunities, and then link arms with our local providers to do the advocacy, knowing that the secretary really gets it and really cares. This is not the first time he's been to Berkshire County, and it is terrific to know that he really is focusing on the whole state."
Following the visit to County Ambulance, Mahaniah and other officials went to the Brien Center's Community Behavioral Health Center, located at 359 Fenn St., which serves as a central access point for urgent behavioral health needs.
The center offers assessment, treatment, and crisis services 24/7. Individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis can call 800-252-0227.
The visit provided an opportunity to highlight the unique challenges of delivering mental health services in rural communities like Berkshire County, where transportation barriers and clinician shortages make accessing care more difficult than in metropolitan areas, Farley-Bouvier said.
"It's good to see the secretary out here visiting Berkshire County, trying to understand how each region of the state has unique needs and unique ways of providing services," state Sen. Paul Mark said.
"I think we are the most rural of the counties, and geographically we're one of the biggest. So, it's important that administration officials come here, see firsthand how we do things, and then coordinate with us in the Legislature to try to figure out how we can deliver resources and services the best way."
There is a lot of collaboration in the region, but several unique challenges, from transportation to internet and cell service connectivity. So, hopefully the tour makes sure Mahaniah is working to make the regulations and policies work for every corner of the state, Mark said.
There is more and more interest at the state level to figure out how to do both crisis and prevention mental health care, Mahaniah said. "I think an organization like this that serves such a continuum of services, from case management to full blown crisis, would be well positioned to be able to benefit from a shift in our policy lens in that way."
The tour reinforced his belief that treating those with mental health challenges requires the organizations to meet them where they are, he said.
"I think the Brien Center is doing an amazing job at doing the outreach, making sure there are no barriers, figuring out how to make it so there's as little friction as possible between the moment where you decide you want treatment and the moment that you receive it," the secretary said. "So, I think it just reinforces my belief that we have to keep funding organizations like the Brien Center."
Berkshire County has very geographically specific needs in providing accessible health care, particularly transportation barriers, limited access to specialized services, and an aging population, Mahaniah said.
Residents living 10 to 15 miles from services without reliable transportation may struggle to access care and the county's relatively low population density also makes it difficult to sustain specialized services, he said.
Mahaniah highlighted several state initiatives supporting organizations like the Brien Center, including the Behavioral Health Roadmap, which funds Community Behavioral Health Centers and MassHealth coverage for substance use treatment and recovery services.
He also pointed to the state's Rural Health Transformation Program, which he said will direct more than $160 million annually toward expanding services, support and care coordination in rural communities surrounding Pittsfield.
"Along that, in terms of transportation, I think that the governor has been remarkable in terms of the historical investments that we made in transportation, and particularly for the Berkshires," Mahaniah said.
"We're really interested in the ideas of microtransit …so, we are funding a number of micro-transit projects and pilots to see how we can bridge the last mile gap."
Tags: Brien Center, mental health, state officials,
