Expanding Behavioral Health Services: How Bayhealth Is Integrating Mental Health Into Primary Care

Bayhealth has expanded access to behavioral health services across nearly all its primary care practices, embedding licensed mental health clinicians into patient care teams to support a more comprehensive approach to health and wellness.

The initiative, developed within the last two years, is rooted in a goal to bring mental health support closer to patients by providing it directly in their primary care experience. Bayhealth Vice President, Physician Services and Clinical Integration, Lawrence Ward, MD, MPH, MACP, and his team recognized a need to address mental health concerns more effectively and reduce barriers that often prevent patients from seeking support.

Lara Hudson, MSM, BSN, RN with Bayhealth Medical Group is a program leader involved in launching the effort. “We decided we wanted to implement behavioral health into our primary care sites, which are the true front lines for these conditions to be recognized” she said. “Today we have behavioral health clinicians in nearly all of primary care practices.”

Services include support for anxiety, depression and substance abuse, among others including acute psychiatric emergencies. The team is now preparing to launch group counseling sessions, starting with grief support and eventually expanding to other shared diagnoses. If a patient requires longer-term therapy or trauma-focused care, the team connects them with community providers.

This embedded model has had measurable results. Bayhealth tracks success using a registry that shows more than 90 percent of patients complete their course of therapy. Clinicians also use a depression screening tool – PHQ-9 – to assess symptom severity before and after treatment. “We’ve already seen patients go from a score of 18, which is very high, to a normal range in just a few sessions,” she said.

Beyond individual outcomes, the program is changing how care is delivered. Behavioral health clinicians – such as social workers, drug and alcohol counselors, family nurse practitioners and more – work closely with chronic care managers and primary care physicians, helping identify patients whose physical symptoms – like chronic pain, migraines or high blood pressure – may be linked to untreated mental health concerns.

In one case, a young adult patient was referred to one of the new behavioral health clinicians. “She had never seen the patient smile before,” said Preeti Gupta, MD. “After just one session, the patient was smiling and engaging – it was a transformation.”

In another instance, a patient flagged during a routine depression screening said he didn’t realize he was struggling until after meeting with the behavioral health team. “He told one of our managers, ‘Your counselor saved my life.’ That’s powerful,” said Dr. Gupta.

Bayhealth’s behavioral health services are currently limited to existing patients at their primary care practices. Bayhealth team members who are also Bayhealth patients may be eligible, however they are referred to a clinician at a different location to protect confidentiality.

This program is now being successfully managed by Tasheema Heliger, MSN, BSN, under Hudson and Dr. Ward. Looking ahead, Bayhealth aims to expand behavioral health into specialty practices and eventually offer services beyond current patients. Group therapy is a key focus, and program leaders are already considering expanding support to patients recovering from surgeries or procedures that can be emotionally and physically life-altering.

“It’s about treating the whole person,” Hudson said. “We’re not just managing medications or checking vitals – we’re helping patients heal in every way.” Bayhealth’s mission – to strengthen the health of our community one life at a time – guides the integration of behavioral health services as a vital component of truly comprehensive care.

If you’re a Bayhealth primary care patient and think you could benefit from behavioral health support, don’t hesitate to ask your provider about the services available to you. Together, we can break down barriers, address mental health head-on and strengthen your overall well-being — one step at a time.