DeLauro Celebrates Ribbon Cutting for New Behavioral Health Center Grant

New Haven, CT –Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) visited CommuniCare, a regional behavioral healthcare center in Ansonia, to participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating a $2 million federal primary care grant. The funds will integrate primary care into behavioral healthcare in a partnership between three mental health agencies: Birmingham Group Health Services, Inc. of Ansonia, Harbor Health Services, Inc. of Branford, and Bridges, and A Community Support System, Inc., of Milford.

CommuniCare seeks to provide comprehensive behavioral health services to the residents of south central Connecticut. The four year SAMHSA grant, which was awarded in 2009 and is one of only 13 distributed nationwide, will enable the healthcare center to provide primary care in addition to the behavioral services already provided. Specifically, it will help to address the serious gaps in health care that affect thousands of adults with mental health and substance abuse disorders and can reduce their quality of life or even shorten their life expectancy.

Individuals with serious mental illnesses have been shown to have much higher incidences of chronic diseases, and die up to 25 years earlier than the general population. This grant will enable CommuniCare to bring medical providers to each of the partnering agencies to provide primary care for their patients at least once a week, as well as developing a comprehensive, integrated mental health and primary care program that will include medical treatment, prevention planning, wellness education, counseling on good nutrition, and case management.

"These vital funds will enable our local communities to provide integrated, coordinated primary and mental health care to some of our most vulnerable citizens, those with mental health and substance abuse disorders. These individuals are much more likely to suffer from chronic diseases and to die at much younger ages, and the serious gaps in our health care system are to blame," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "CommuniCare's efforts to address these problems will be aided by this grant, and I look forward to seeing the positive results as they move to the forefront of creating a better health care system in America."