Kinixu, NAMI describe expanded local behavioral health services and same-day access plans

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 over year.

Dr. Wasif provided utilization figures comparing February 2023 to February 2024: total behavioral-health patients rose 65% to 555 patients; Medicaid patient visits rose 52%; Medicare visits rose 21%; self-pay client visits rose 89%. He said targeted efforts to serve children ages 3–10 increased visits for that group by about 40% after hiring a pediatric specialist.

Dr. Wasif described a recently started partnership with the county jail: "We've finally started sending a therapist out at requests, based on the referrals that we receive, to provide care for folks that are incarcerated, in hopes that the care will be able to sustain after they're released," he said.

Dawn Mara, who identified herself as working with the local NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) board, described a peer-run, nonclinical rehabilitation program called Sand Creek Connections. "We just launched a nonclinical outpatient facility that is free to members and lifetime for people that are trying to rehabilitate their chronic depression, their PTSD, some of these serious illnesses that keep them from functioning and getting back into the community," Mara said. She said Sand Creek Connections is on the SPOT bus route and plans transport to serve Bonner and Boundary counties; she reported 26 members and said the program is grant-funded and seeking support for 2026.

On same-day access, Dr. Wasif said Kinixu has posted a position to staff a "same day" clinic to provide immediate outpatient assessment and link clients to case management, peer support and other providers. He cautioned the program is not ready to open to the public yet but is a current workstream.

Commissioners and audience members asked questions about inpatient care and long-term placements. Dr. Wasif said Kinixu does not offer inpatient services and is not promising to open inpatient beds, but described interest in developing an intensive outpatient service in the future. "It's such an important service that I don't want to launch something and have it wax and wane," he said.

The presentation and the new peer-run center were discussed as ways to reduce pressure on law enforcement and hospitals. "They actually run the facility, the members, so it gives them purpose and connection," Mara said. Mara provided the NAMI website (NAMIFARNorth.org) for additional information.

Looking ahead, Dr. Wasif said Kinixu aims to add a third psychiatric provider this summer and to stand up same-day access when staffing and partnerships allow. Mara asked the county for continued support to sustain Sand Creek Connections beyond its initial grant funding.

Ending: Commissioners recorded the update for the public record and moved on to routine consent agenda items; no formal county funding decision for Kinixu or NAMI was made at the April 15 meeting.