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Kinixu, NAMI describe expanded local behavioral health services and same-day access plans
Summary
Kinixu Community Health and the local NAMI chapter told Bonner County commissioners they have expanded outpatient and school-based mental health services, are sending therapists to the county jail by referral, and are planning a same-day access clinic; NAMI launched a peer-run Sand Creek Connections facility.
Dr. Joe Wasif, director of behavioral health at Kinixu Community Health, told Bonner County commissioners on April 15 that Kinixu has expanded outpatient and school-based mental health services and is planning same-day access for urgent outpatient care.
The update came during a requested agenda change so Dr. Wasif could speak first. He said Kinixu has purchased a two-story building on Baldy Mountain Road to expand behavioral health services, has hired an eleventh mental health therapist and recently placed therapists in schools across Boundary and Bonner counties. "We have two psychiatric providers and are hoping to add a third this summer," Dr. Wasif said.
Why this matters: Commissioners and staff said the county’s emergency services and jail are affected by local mental-health capacity. Dr. Wasif said services remain harder to access for people depending on type of insurance and noted large increases in patients seen year…
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