The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is getting $250,000 to improve mental health services.
Janet Albers, chair of Family and Community Medicine at SIU, says the money is a huge help.
“We’re going to be screening more for depression, screening more for substance abuse issues, we’re going to try to recognize things early,” says Albers. “We’re going to help team members there to address them right at the time someone comes in for their regular medical visit.”
Albers says the money will help set up the infrastructure to sustain services once the grant runs out.
The SIU School of Medicine was one of more than 400 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) nationwide that shared a nationwide disbursement of $51.3 million.
Albers says the grants, mandated through the Affordable Care Act, are a good start toward addressing mental health — which she says is usually the first to be cut — but she says the work is far from over.