Health
Grant money is allowing One Health Ohio to offer behavioral health services
At One Health Ohio, patients have traditionally been treated for medical and dental issues, but over the past couple of years administrators began noticing other symptoms appearing.
At One Health Ohio, patients have traditionally been treated for medical and dental issues, but over the past couple of years administrators began noticing other symptoms appearing.
"Interestingly close to 70% of our patients, our medical patients 18 and older had some type of behavioral health issues along with their medical problems," said Dr. Ronald Dwinnells the CEO of One Health Ohio.
Typically, One Health Ohio referred those patients out to behavioral health facilities, but Dr. Dwinnells says only about 20% of them followed up for those services, mainly because they had to wait a few weeks to get an appointment.
"No one that we identified as substance abuse and no one that we identified as alcohol-related problems went. So, that 20% represents people who were primarily depressed that we identified," said Dr. Dwinnells.
Dr. Dwinnells hopes grant money, which allowed him to hire counselors and social workers to work on site at One Health Ohio, will bridge that gap.
"Our intent is to number one identify because again, you can't do anything unless you identify them and number two, get them initial treatment, initial counseling and get them into the system so that they know where to go and how to access the treatments," said Dr. Dwinnells.
The facility will continue working with outside agencies that provide counseling, recognizing the importance of treating the body along with the mind.