Mental health services at Evergreen are expanding

Evergreen Health’s AVP of Clinical Services, Amanda Honan, LMHC stays busy with incredibly important work – helping patients access essential mental healthcare during unprecedented times. She took a moment to tell us about the upcoming expansion to Evergreen’s mental health services and how it will benefit our patients.

Could you talk a little about the state of mental healthcare in the community right now?

• Things are worsening, we all see it. We’re also seeing people exhibit more intense symptoms of depression and anxiety. We are trying to combat this by increasing the frequency with which we meet with patients, but it creates a longer wait for others seeking help.
• The World Health Organization is now stating that depression is one of the leading causes of disability. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely – as much as two decades early – due to preventable physical conditions.
• When you amplify these intense mental health symptoms with increased substance use and decreased resources it leads to what we are now seeing which is 20 to 30 percent jump in requests for services in the industry. And as we know, the pandemic brought increases in isolation and anxiety and simultaneously decreasing access to services and natural supports, which leads to more worry, sadness, grief, more feelings of loss.

How has the demand for mental health services impacted Evergreen?

• Between January and July this year, we had to refer out 1,500 patients to other service providers – we just couldn’t accommodate all of them. We currently average about 150 referrals a month that we are unable to accommodate, despite growing by 52 percent for counseling services and 78 percent for psychiatry services from 1/1/2022 to 11/1/2022.

What will the expansion of mental health services at Evergreen do for our patients?

• Each therapist can have a caseload of about 50 patients. This build out will create five new offices and they can be shared. So between in-person and virtual visits, that space could accommodate up to 10 new staff that could take on about 500 more patients. More updates on the expansion will be provided in 2023.

Are you concerned about being able to fill vacant positions when they become available?

• We’re lucky – our mission and what Evergreen stands for sells itself. People want to work for Evergreen, so to date this has not been an issue for us. We do a lot of great work in our department and not to brag, but we’re pretty amazing!

What makes Evergreen’s care different from other providers in the community?

• The Unconditional aspect. Come as you are. It doesn’t matter what you’re bringing to the table. We are building programs for sex worker health, expanded gender-affirming treatment, family services and more.
• We’re always looking for ways we can treat our patients without judgment. We issue surveys and listen to them about what they actually want in their healthcare.
• And it’s a safe environment. We hear over and over again how wonderful and safe people feel – specifically from our Behavioral Health patients – and about our compassionate, gentle and warm providers.

What would you say to a donor that chooses to support Evergreen Health on Giving Tuesday?

• Thank you. I think it is great when individuals help us serve the underserved. Our populations are sometimes excluded from other agencies which may not follow our harm reduction approach. For example, if someone misses an appointment, they could get closed and even barred from services elsewhere, but we won’t turn someone away like that at Evergreen.
• I don’t know where a lot of people would go otherwise. We’re kind of a last resort for many people who need help. Not kind of – we are.