Sedgwick County updates CCBHC progress, plans crisis intervention center and new Comcare facility

Comcare leadership updated the Sedgwick County Commission Tuesday on the county’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) status, faster patient access under a prospective payment system and plans to consolidate crisis services into a single crisis intervention center (CIC).

The update, led by Michelle Calvert of Comcare and Jennifer Wilson, director of crisis services, covered the CCBHC model’s history and financial implications, service outcomes since Sedgwick County’s certification in 2022 and a proposed new facility on Topeka Street to combine current crisis locations and add stabilization capacity.

Comcare’s CCBHC certification and the shift to a prospective payment system (PPS) mean the agency is paid based on the bundle of services it provides rather than by fee-for-service. Calvert said the model allows Comcare to account for previously unpaid services and stabilize staffing. “We were providing millions of dollars of free services,” she said, adding that the PPS rate is recalculated by allowable costs and is reviewed periodically.

Why it matters: Commissioners heard data that the CCBHC model has shortened access times and expanded capacity. Calvert said youth served by Comcare rose from 861 in 2022 to about 1,700 in 2024 and that average wait times for youth dropped from about 14 days to less than two days. She said adult wait times are now “less than half a day” and that…