Vera French Community Mental Health Center

Amount Appropriated?

$1.9M

FFID tracks stages 1–2 — stages 3–5 vary by agency, assistance type, and earmark structure.

Project Description

Vera French's CPF Request Is A Valuable Use of Taxpayer Funds Because:\n\nPhysical Accessibility For More People Facing Mental Illness. On average, it is estimated that 20 people per day, 100 people per week, and 4,600 people per year have to use the rear entrance of the building due to accessibility issues. Others with lesser mobility challenges still struggle to enter the building using the original stairs in the front of the Center Building. This project provides a welcoming and accessible front entrance where all can be welcomed for treatment. By directing traffic through one point of entry, it also makes the building a safer place for employees.\n\nIt Will Allow Psychiatrists and ARNPs To Safely and Effectively See More Patients. Currently, because the lobby and waiting area of the Center Building was not designed to accommodate Vera French's daily demand of patients and clients, our prescribers are limited in how many patients they can serve each day. The inadequate space and crowded layout of our front entrance are real barriers to seeing more people each day and the end result is our clients having to wait up to 60 days to get into a prescriber and almost as long to get into a follow-up appointment. With additional space and a modern layout, more patients can safely and effectively be seen, thereby maximizing the time and talent of four (4) psychiatrists and five (5) Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNPs). \n\nPopulation Health. In a micro sense and at the level of the individual, by focusing on improving mental health, we know healthy living (better housing, food choices, exercise, etc.) often leads to better physical health outcomes, especially for people suffering with chronic conditions like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. From a macro perspective, focusing on mental health shortens the length and severity of chronic conditions and provides taxpayers significant savings by materially lowering healthcare expenditures.