Behavioral Health

Solutions

Over the past two years, this community has answered the call to help meet rising behavioral health needs, giving more than $4 million to fuel workforce, access and delivery solutions across our system of care.

 

Mental illness, substance abuse and other behavioral health challenges impact all of us, and together we can keep up the momentum highlighted here to bring help and hope to all in need.

 

Funds raised (2021-2022): $4 million

Workforce

  • Launching an internship consortium in 2023 to train the next generation of clinical psychologists.
  • Partnering with Augustana University (Sioux Falls) to train future Integrated Health Therapists for working with patients in primary care settings
  • Sponsoring trainees in social work and professional counseling as they transition into Sanford employment.
  • Partnering with Iris Telehealth to hire four social workers and one psychiatrist to offer direct-to-consumer services as part of the Sanford Virtual Care Initiative

Access

  • Adding a full-time behavioral health therapist to the Sanford Child’s Voice advocacy center in Sioux Falls.
  • Integrating therapists into primary care clinics, including women’s health and children’s specialty in Sioux Falls, urgent care in Fargo, and oncology in Fargo, Bismarck and Bemidji.
  • Embedding mental health clinicians in North Dakota schools.

Training

  • Offering BeHEARD (Behavioral Health Education, Awareness, and Response Development) training to Sanford employees to increase knowledge, skills and confidence to recognize and respond to a mental health emergency. More than 400 employees have taken the courses.
  • Developing a BeHEARD training program for adolescents.

Innovative care delivery

  • Implementing artificial intelligence that draws patient data from electronic medical records to determine which patients are likely to have an adverse behavioral health outcome.