Cass Family Clinic seeks opioid-settlement funding for mobile behavioral health clinic

Cass Family Clinic asked the board to move a request for opioid settlement funds to the regular June meeting to help underwrite a new mobile behavioral-health clinic scheduled to begin service in late summer.

Joe Gavin, chief executive officer of Cass Family Clinic, told the board the 39-foot mobile unit, acquired used and retrofitted at an estimated cost of about $300,000, will focus on behavioral health and substance use disorder services in “hard to get to” areas of Cass County. The unit will include an exam room and will be staffed by a licensed master social worker and a behavioral health medical assistant.

Gavin said the clinic expects to begin outreach during the county fair season and to start seeing patients in mid-August to September, and that the mobile model will be a “feeder” into fixed clinics by offering a predictable schedule at routine locations. Gavin said the mobile unit will likely see fewer patients per day than a fixed clinic — an estimated 12–15 patients versus 18–20 in a typical clinic day — because of travel time and unpredictability of appointments.

Gavin acknowledged the operation is expensive to run and that revenue will be less predictable, and he said the clinic is seeking partners, philanthropic support and a county opioid-settlement award to offset operating deficits. He also thanked the board for prior opioid-settlement funding for Narcan vending machines at clinic locations in Niles and Kasopolis and said those units have been in heavy use.

A board member identified in the meeting as the chair of the county opioid advisory committee told commissioners the advisory committee had unanimously scored and supported the mobile clinic proposal, noting nationwide examples cited at a national opioid congress of mobile behavioral-health services serving rural communities.

Commissioner Grace asked whether the mobile unit would serve the entire county; Gavin replied the plan is to cover the county, including Lower Van Buren and the Niles area, while avoiding unnecessary overlap with other clinic providers unless invited. Grace also asked about other partnerships; Gavin said Cass Family Clinic is in communication with Woodland (a higher-acuity provider) for referrals and said Corewell is partnering on community navigation and continuity of care for specialty and emergency services.

The board voted to move the opioid-settlement funding request to the regular June meeting for further consideration. No dollar award was approved at the committee meeting.