Clarity Healthcare partnership provides primary care to Burrell behavioral health patients

Roger McKinney, Columbia Daily Tribune
·2 min read
Groups of people tour the new Clarity Healthcare Clinic at Burrell Behavioral Health-Stephens Lake at 1805 E Walnut St. on Wednesday during a grand opening. The clinic will integrate behavioral and primary health care to serve Columbia’s health needs.
Groups of people tour the new Clarity Healthcare Clinic at Burrell Behavioral Health-Stephens Lake at 1805 E Walnut St. on Wednesday during a grand opening. The clinic will integrate behavioral and primary health care to serve Columbia’s health needs.

Treating the whole person — mind and body — is the goal of a new partnership between Burrell Behavioral Health and Preferred Family Healthcare.

Clarity Healthcare, a Federally Qualified Health Center, had a grand opening with tours Wednesday at the Burrell Stephens Lake Clinic, 1805 E. Walnut St.

The parent company for the partnership between the organizations is Brightli.

Clarity Healthcare will provide integrated care, said C.J. Davis, Burrell president and CEO, who also serves as CEO of Brightli.

"This facility integrates primary care and behavioral health under one roof," Davis said.

Half of people with a mental health condition don't have a primary care doctor, he said. Clarity is meant to correct that.

People, not symptoms, will be the focus, Davis said.

"We are providing services for, not services to" people, he said.

Among those at the event was Dr. Garima Singh, Burrell chief medical officer.

"This will be a great resource for our patients and community for integrated health care, comprehensive care," Singh said.

Rev. James Gray, right, a pastor at Second Missionary Baptist Church, Christy Power, senior executive vice president of operations at Preferred Family Healthcare, and Mathew Gass, president of Burrell Behavioral Health Central Region, tour the new Clarity Healthcare Clinic at Burrell Behavioral Health-Stephens Lake at 1805 E Walnut St. on Wednesday during a grand opening.

In July, the location will also serve as a temporary behavioral health crisis center until a permanent location is determined, Singh said.

Having the integrated care available at the clinic could eliminate some of the demand for the behavioral health crisis center, she said.

Preferred Family Healthcare has other locations in Hannibal, St. Louis and Quincy, Illinois. The Columbia location is its only partnership with another agency, said Christy Power, senior executive vice president of operations for Preferred Family Healthcare.

Compass Health is another Federally Qualified Health Center in Columbia.

"The goal of this one is to serve the needs of Burrell patients," Power said of Clarity Healthcare.

Federally Qualified Health Centers are community-based clinics that receive funds from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to provide primary care services in underserved areas. Payments are on a sliding scale based on ability to pay and they operate under governing boards whose members include patients.

There's a real need for the integrated services Clarity Healthcare will provide, Power said.

A chronic care team also will address those patient needs, she said.

rmckinney@columbiatribune.com

573-815-1719

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Clarity Healthcare partnership seeks to integrate care for individuals