Advancing Primary and Behavioral Integrated Care at Eric B. Chandler Health Center

Project Goal: To sustain the integration of behavioral health care into primary care at the Eric B. Chandler Health Center (EBCHC).

Project Description: This project builds on a previous grant to support the delivery of primary and behavioral integrated care at the EBCHC. In the prior project, EBCHC successfully implemented the Cherokee Health System’s model of integrated care at their health center. Cherokee has demonstrated that by delivering integrated care, a health center can increase the use of primary care, reduce the unnecessary use of sub-specialists, improve health outcomes, and ultimately reduce costs. EBCHC will use this grant to improve billing and coding practices to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of delivering integrated care to patients at the center. In addition, the grant will provide for the continued support of the on-staff behavioral health consultant (BHC) and community health worker (CHW) responsible for providing brief behavioral health interventions in real-time and conducting patient follow up and outreach, respectively.

About the Grantee: The Eric B. Chandler Health Center (EBCHC) is owned and operated by Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides comprehensive primary care services to low-income patients in the greater New Brunswick area using the patient-centered medical home model. EBCHC also has a satellite location that provides primary care and dental health services. EBCHC is the site at which residents from three primary care residencies at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School fulfill their ambulatory care services requirement. Learn more about the Eric B. Chandler Health Center.