Lawmakers hear behavioral‑health progress: telehealth expansion, CCBHC rollout and a $300 million hospital proposal

BISMARCK — The Appropriations - Human Resources Division section heard an overview of North Dakota’s behavioral‑health system on the morning session, where Department of Health and Human Services officials outlined program outcomes, upcoming clinic certification steps and a proposal for a new state psychiatric hospital.

Pam Segnus, executive director of behavioral health for the Department of Health and Human Services, told the panel the department is pursuing a systemwide shift that treats “behavioral health as health,” and that recent investments have focused on expanding community‑based services, strengthening early intervention and building workforce capacity.

The briefing matters because legislators must weigh ongoing funding for community programs, one‑time capital for a new state hospital and rules and certification changes needed to allow state clinics to participate in a federal‑style prospective payment system known as the CCBHC (certified community behavioral health clinic) model.

Segnus said the department is building the pieces needed for CCBHC certification at its eight regional clinics — including enhanced care coordination, expanded substance‑use treatment, primary‑care integration and strengthened data and revenue‑cycle functions — and expects administrative rules and certification processes to be in place by spring–summer 2026. She said North Central (Minot), Southeast (Fargo) and Northwest (Williston) clinics had declared intent to pursue certification.

Mark Johnston of Evelle Ecare, a tele‑medicine vendor that has expanded crisis telehealth for law enforcement, described rapid uptake of on‑scene virtual behavioral assessments. “We are currently live in 73 jurisdictions across the state,” Johnston told the section. He said the vendor’s clinical triage nurses supported nearly 200 field encounters in about nine months, and that after those encounters individuals were handed off to regional community mental‑health resources 94…