The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) has been awarded a $1.75 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). 

The grant money will go towards the strategic expansion of telebehavioral health services via primary care settings to underserved and rural communities, specifically targeting areas of Ashtabula County, Ohio and Chautauqua County, New York. 

The funding, amounting to $350,000 per year over the next five years, will allow for the launch of the Health Expansion and Access with LECOM Behavioral Health program, also known as Project HEAL-BH. 

According to LECOM, both Ashtabula County and Chautauqua County are designated as HRSA Mental Health Provider Shortage Areas. This means they  have a scarcity of providers who offer behavioral health in their communities. 

“We are thrilled to be chosen for this grant by HRSA,” Dr. Danielle Hansen, regional president of LECOM Health, said. “This funding allows LECOM Health to provide telebehavioral health resources and address disparities in behavioral healthcare, access, and provider capacity in Ashtabula County and Chautauqua County.”

Through Project HEAL-BH, patients at the Rural Clinic of Ashtabula and the Corry Memorial Hospital Clymer Rural Health Clinic in Chautauqua County will have access to in person brief therapeutic interventions and care coordination with Behavioral Health Care Managers. 

Patients will also have access to direct psychiatric care from providers with Medical Associates of Erie (MAE).

Project HEAL-BH began on September 30, 2024 and will run through September 30, 2029.