Mental health and substance use were identified as the top two priorities in Hudson Hospital & Clinic’s most recent Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) with St. Croix and Pierce counties. 
Hudson Hospital & Clinic’s proximity to the Twin Cities and the rural area it serves as a critical access hospital give it a unique opportunity to meet the community’s behavioral health needs. 
Hudson Hospital & Clinic continues to pioneer the Emergency Department Behavioral Health Televideo Program that serves eight hospitals and three counties in an innovative public-private partnership. 
The program addresses the gap often found in the emergency departments of rural and community hospitals, where there may be little or no behavioral health resources to stabilize, assess, intervene, refer or consult. The program is based at Hudson Hospital & Clinic and provides two distinct services at the same time: 
Assess, diagnose, make treatment recommendations, assist with discharge recommendations, and help coordinate follow-up services; and,
Complete crisis assessments and when needed, facilitate involuntary placements. 
Additionally, Programs for Change at Hudson Hospital & Clinic was – and remains – one of the first alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs in the region to return to in-person group therapy sessions after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clients continue to express their appreciation that we offer this option, which they find extremely valuable. 
Programs for Change Hudson also recently expanded access by launching a psychiatric residency one-month rotation program. This equates to a full-time psychiatrist available at all times, and exposes psychiatric residents to the unique needs of the rural community being met by the program.