With mental/behavioral Health being a top priority from their recent Community Health Needs Assessment, Fort HealthCare has been involved with several initiatives that support behavioral health in Jefferson County.  
A Behavioral Health Subcommittee was established in 2020 including Jefferson County stakeholders through the Rock River Health Care Network. This subcommittee was formed to evaluate the current need of behavioral health services in the community. The new network completed a survey of area behavioral health provider services currently provided. Gaps were identified and a strategic plan involving the refer-contract-employ model was adopted. More specifically, it was decided to implement a Care Navigator Model as a pilot at the Rock River Community Clinic (RRCC) as a first step. These staff will work directly with patients (referred from the providers) to assist them with their needs outside of the medical appointment. They will become intimately aware of the referral patterns and data will be kept determining successful behavioral health community referrals. This data will better inform the Network if behavioral health community capacity is indeed accurate. 
Fort HealthCare is also providing behavioral health services that are co-located within primary care settings. This co-location integrated model offers several benefits: increased direct referrals from primary care to behavioral health; increased collaboration and coordination of care in treating patients holistically; available and needed resources to manage and resolve mental health crises that present within the primary care clinics; and increased consultation between primary care and behavioral health. Integrated Care is an initiative Fort HealthCare knows promotes best practices and improved patient outcomes that they remain committed to. Fort HealthCare’s primary care clinics are screening patients at every visit for depression and suicide risk using the PHQ-9 for adults 18+ and a PHQ-A for patients 11-17 years old. As of May 31, 2021, 45% of Fort HealthCare’s eligible patient population for this screening were assessed using one of the depression screening tools. Being a new policy, the focus is currently on education and training for clinic staff. 
Fort HealthCare continues with The School-Based Behavioral Health Program. Each school year, Fort HealthCare has successfully increased the behavioral health presence in schools recognizing the significant need of students, and prioritizing funding to make these services available. They are currently working with three public school districts and two parochial schools, providing services in 12 school buildings.