Merced County Department of Public Health is the lead agency for The Whole Health Partnership of Merced County, which is comprised of local representatives from primary care, hospitals, managed care plans, county behavioral health, and community representatives. This collaborative has been focused on improving coordination and developing better referral practices between providers, as well as engaging community members in addressing and reducing social stigma around the issue of mental health.

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The collaborative may serve as a resource to others interested in pursuing similar work as it continues to develop expertise in these areas:

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Improved care coordination and advance planning for patients who are transitioning between mental health and primary care settings

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Working with providers to develop and adopt a universal release-of-information policy to facilitate the exchange of important clinical data

 

Documenting and mapping current referral processes between and among different partner agencies

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Training and education for providers and the community to reduce stigma

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Gaining consensus among stakeholders on a set of countywide metrics to measure progress in advancing behavioral health integration, and participation in the Dashboard Learning Community Cluster

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Conducting a community capacity assessment. The Consumer Engagement Survey used in the assessment process is available in English, Spanish and Hmong.

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Lead Contacts:

Kathleen Grassi, Merced County Department of Public Health, kgrassi@co.merced.ca.us

Kristynn Sullivan, Merced County Department of Public Health, ksullivan@co.merced.ca.us

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