Grants Pass, OR – The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded more than $200 million to 1,178 health centers and 13 rural health organizations to increase access to substance abuse and mental health services. Siskiyou Community Health Center (SCHC) received $175,700 of those funds.

Siskiyou Community Health Center will use the funds for the expansion and integration of mental health services and substance abuse services. These services focus on the treatment, prevention, and awareness of opioid abuse in the primary care setting by increasing personnel, leveraging health information technology, and providing training. “Siskiyou Community Health Center is honored to be one of the health centers chosen for this grant. We are already screening for mental health and substance abuse problems in our clinics, but this funding will help patients access needed services when issues are identified,” said SCHC Chief Medical Officer Kristin Miller, M.D.

Understanding how adversity of early childhood trauma impacts all aspects of human functioning by becoming a high risk factor throughout the lifespan is critical. Some of the funds received will be allocated to an organization-wide training on trauma-informed care, a vital necessity in the path of building a resilient, thriving community for generations to come. Integration of the trauma-informed principles into the practice opens an opportunity to view the population through a trauma-informed lens and ultimately improve the lives of the people served.

The funding is part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ five-point strategy to fight the opioid epidemic by:

  • Improving access to treatment and recovery services.
  • Targeting use of overdose-reversing drugs.
  • Strengthening our understanding of the epidemic through better public health surveillance.
  • Providing support for cutting-edge research on pain and addiction.
  • Advancing better practices for pain management.

Already, Siskiyou Community Health Center has partnered with various local organizations to provide community Naloxone education and training. Naloxone reverses the effects of an overdose caused by opioids. And, through the New Pathways: Moving Through Chronic Pain program, Siskiyou Community Health Center provides weekly support groups for anyone living with chronic pain and who seek tools for managing pain more effectively. This new funding will support programs like this and many others.

Siskiyou Community Health Center continues to provide an affordable solution for quality healthcare.
As a not-for-profit federally qualified health center, SCHC is able to offer a sliding fee scale for patients with no insurance. For those with insurance, SCHC also accepts most insurance plans including the Oregon Health Plan and Medicare.