Bert Nash Tele-Therapy: Making Care Possible During COVID-19
DCCF is supporting the work of Bert Nash through a $5,438 Crisis Response Fund Grant. The grant was used for Zoom subscriptions and licenses as well as disposable masks.
From the Bert Nash grant request:
"The mission of the Bert Nash Center is to advance the health of the Douglas County community through comprehensive behavioral health services responsive to evolving needs and changing environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated our call to live out this mission. During this time of high stress, isolation, anxiety, job loss, and depression, current clients may experience heightened symptoms and some individuals with no past mental health issues are finding themselves struggling and in need of support for the first time in their lives. BNC is called and committed to meeting those needs. However, our traditional means of delivering services (face-to-face therapy in our facility, schools, and community) is no longer possible.
Bert Nash Center has immediately worked to transition in-person services to virtual care whenever possible. This has meant transitioning therapists, case managers, behavioral health specialists, psychiatrists, and direct support staff to use technology to deliver care. We’ve needed to immediately secure the hardware and software necessary to make this happen, and we believe this new normal will continue throughout 2020 and beyond.
Some of our services, such as crisis/intake care, work at the LMHH ED, Homeless outreach, and critical community-based support for individuals, must remain face-to-face. Bert Nash is taking all reasonable precautions to ensure staff and client safety during these interactions and an important part of that protocol is the wearing of masks by both staff and clients.
This funding would provide immediate, critical help in covering unbudgeted costs of our service transformation, especially needed in light of significant revenue losses due to the disruption and transition of services when the pandemic began. Funding would be used for Zoom subscriptions/licenses for 55 clinicians to perform tele-health services for 3 months (April-June) and purchase of 1200 disposable masks for client interactions."
Thank you to the staff at Bert Nash, and to our donors to the Douglas County Disaster Response Fund - together we are making a difference!