The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded eight facilities in Ohio a total of $2 million to support or expand mental health services for thousands of residents.
The health centers - including two in Columbus - will use the money to hire new mental health professionals, integrate models of primary care, and add mental health and substance-use disorder health services. The agency says 221 health centers in 47 states and Puerto Rico have received 54.6 million dollars in Affordable Care Act funding to support such behavioral health services. In 2013, Ohio health centers saw more than 26 thousand behavioral health patients.