AMITA Health
Protecting Essential Mental Health Services for Underserved and Uninsured
With the state’s two-year budget impasse crippling community mental health providers, AMITA Health in 2016 committed to supporting several organizations in the Chicago suburbs it serves. The goal was to ensure essential mental health services to underserved and underinsured Medicaid and Medicare patients.
One of AMITA’s collaborations was with the Ecker Center for Behavioral Health in Elgin, which provides overnight coverage in the emergency department at AMITA Health Saint Joseph Hospital Elgin. The center was facing the biggest crisis in its history: Without state funding, staff had been laid off and programs were closing. AMITA Health chose to step in.
After multiple meetings with the organization’s executive director, the center’s Child Psychiatric emerged as a top priority. In December 2016, AMITA Health entered into an official partnership and began funding the Child Psychiatric program.
The goal of the partnership was to enroll 15 new clients in psychiatric services through June of 2017. As of October 16, 2017, the center has added 21 clients to the psychiatrist’s workload, for a total of 48 active clients since the partnership began.
AMITA’s financial support has been life-changing for the children served. They have achieved:
- 100 percent medication compliance;
- 91 percent appointment compliance and treatment efficacy; and
- 70 percent improvement in children’s functioning at home and away.