Posted on April 17, 2006

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Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Awards $2.6 Million to Texas Clinics

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, an administrative unit of the University of Texas at Austin, has announced three-year grants totaling more than $2.6 million to five Texas primary care and pediatric clinics to promote effective identification and treatment of mental health problems in primary care settings.

The recipients of the grants are the Valley Primary Care Network in Harlingen ($1,138,184); Parkland Hospital and Health System in Dallas ($576,634); People's Community Clinic in Austin, ($275,255); Project Vida Health Center in El Paso ($373,104); and Texas Children's Pediatric Associates in Houston ($306,570). With the funding, the organizations will adopt the collaborative care model, an integrated healthcare approach in which primary care and mental health providers partner to manage treatment in the primary care or pediatric setting and address any implementation barriers they encounter.

According to Hogg Foundation executive director King E. Davis, the grants represent the first step in the foundation's initiative to improve the quality of care provided in the state's primary-care clinics. While most people experiencing mental health problems go to their primary-care physician for help, the doctors rarely possess the training to identify, treat, and monitor these issues effectively. The new model addresses this dilemma by integrating a mental health care manager and a consulting psychiatrist into the primary care or pediatric setting to educate patients about their problems and monitor their response to treatment.

"With a minimal time investment, primary care physicians receive the expert consultation they need to treat mental health problems effectively, increasing their capacity to manage such problems without assistance over time," said Davis. "Through mental healthcare managers' routine monitoring of patients between physician visits, patients with identified mental health needs are less likely to 'slip through the cracks' in the primary care setting."

“Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Awards $2.6 Million to Promote Effective Mental Health Treatment in Primary Care Clinics.” Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Press Release 4/10/06.

Primary Subject: Health
Location(s): Austin, Texas

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