Grant Will Integrate Care For Low-Income Population

LOMA LINDA >> The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded Loma Linda University School of Medicine a $2.4 million grant to conduct a collaborative project between the school’s department of family medicine and the School of Behavioral Health’s department of psychology. This federal grant will help low-income patients by integrating behavioral health with medical training offered at SAC Health System in San Bernardino. U.S. Representative Pete Aguilar said in a statement, “This grant comes at a perfect time when the SAC Health System begins offering services in the new Loma Linda University – San Bernardino Campus facility.” “San Bernardino County has high Medi-Cal enrollment and higher than average unemployment and poverty rates," Aguilar continued. "The SAC Health System and Loma Linda University School of Medicine will work collaboratively to serve this population in San Bernardino with the funds being offered in this grant." While this grant will help patients, it will also create a sustainable pipeline of family medicine physicians and primary care psychologists who can work together to improve mental and physical health in the same clinical setting. This pipeline is particularly important in the Inland Empire, which has a shortage of physicians as well as medically underserved populations of patients. The project, called IMPACT or Integrated Medical-home for Patients: Access, Cost and Targeted Management, will create this sustainable pipeline of family physicians and primary care psychologists, as it will train medical and psychology students from Loma Linda University as a means to improve behavioral health integration workflow. Training family medicine faculty and residents and medical/psychology students in team communication and leadership skills, another cog in the IMPACT program, aims to manage patient populations with a well-functioning interprofessional team. Dual service learning tracks will also be created for medical and psychology doctoral students including didactics, mentoring and placement at a federally qualified health center to provide care for the underserved in the Inland Empire region. "Five percent of our nation's population consumes 50 percent of the health care costs and resources,” said Dr. Roger Hadley, dean of the School of Medicine. “Among these chronically ill patients there are inevitable behavioral issues that must be considered in the management of their care. The most effective way to treat these complex cases is to work collaboratively with the different health care professions." “This grant provides an expanded opportunity for the department of psychology to work with the department of family medicine in an integrated health model to serve the patients at SAC Health System,” said Beverly Buckles, DSW, dean of the School of Behavioral Health. “The stipends that will be provided for students will be a tremendous help in financing their graduate education.”