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It’s hard to find someone whose life has not been touched by mental illness or addiction. Many of us have stories to tell – stories of our own struggles and the struggles of a loved one, friend or family member. Just like cancer or diabetes, these illnesses have an enormous impact on the lives of Oregonians. But for too long they have been treated separately and the people touched by them have faced crippling stigma.
When we set out to build the coordinated care model, we recognized that integrating behavioral and physical health care is absolutely essential to improving Oregonians’ lives and reducing costs to our health care system. That’s why each coordinated care organization (CCO) has a plan to weave mental health and addiction services into the overall coordinated care model.
Now it’s time to bring all of the stakeholders to the table to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the statewide behavioral health care system.
To get started, we are hosting a series of town hall meetings around the state. Stakeholders will discuss the current state of the behavioral health system, develop a shared vision of where we want to go, and establish guiding principles for how we get there.
We’ve had two very successful meetings, in Portland and Bend, and I appreciate everyone who turned out to participate. We’ve had some extremely valuable input, and we’ve already noted some emerging themes, such as challenges in accessing services, the desire to use data to inform policy, and the need for care coordination in all services.
OHA will take the feedback gathered during the meetings to develop a two- to five-year strategic plan and present it to stakeholders later this year. Our goal is to create an integrated, coordinated and culturally competent behavioral health system – one that provides better health, better care and lower cost for all Oregonians.
There are four town hall meetings left, including one this afternoon in Seaside. Dates and locations are located on the town hall meeting Web page. It also has instructions for submitting feedback in writing.
I hope you can attend. We are looking for participants from all stakeholder groups – from consumers and advocates to health care providers and county and city governments; from education and law enforcement to hospitals and community housing agencies – you all have a stake in how, where and to whom these vital services are delivered. Behavioral health affects everyone, and we want to make sure your voice is heard.
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