Baptist Health raised behavioral health awareness through chalk, walk, taking stock

Louisville, KY (Nov. 20, 2024) - Baptist Health staff picked up chalk to create positive messages, took stock of mental health resources and even strapped on their athletic shoes to walk to support mental health for the system’s 100 Days of Service centennial project for September.

More than 24 events were hosted, attracting more than 4,700 participants.

“We recognize that now, more than ever, behavioral health services are greatly needed,” said Chris Holcomb, Baptist Health’s associate vice president for behavioral health. “Baptist Health has been rapidly expanding its behavioral health services – both in-person and virtually – but we have a long way to go to fully meet the demand.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 50 percent of Americans will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. One in five will experience a mental illness in any given year.

Behavioral health is a growing focus for Baptist Health, which saw a nearly 500 percent increase in those outpatients, from 22,000 visits in 2020 to 128,000 this year. In 2020, Baptist Health launched a multi-year plan to significantly expand its capacity to provide behavioral health care, which encompasses mental health, substance use/prevention, treatment, and recovery support services.

Long-time focus, growth

The original Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville was among the first private hospitals in the nation to open a psychiatric unit in 1949. The legacy also runs deep at Baptist Health Corbin, where psychiatrist Charles William Briscoe, MD, has been carrying the torch for behavioral health services for 51 years at the clinic that bears his name. 

Behavioral health services are being offered in all nine Baptist Health hospital markets. In some markets, clinicians offer in-person behavioral health services through Baptist Health primary care locations. Behavioral health providers also are embedded in a few bariatric, neurology and oncology practices.

Specialized intensive outpatient programs exist in Corbin, Richmond and Louisville, with plans for other locations. Outpatient services have grown from nine access points of care in January 2020 to nearly 60 points of care presently.

Inpatient services are offered at Baptist Health Corbin, Baptist Health Hardin, Baptist Health Deaconess Madisonville, Baptist Health Richmond, and Baptist Health La Grange.

The demand for behavioral health services is there. In the Baptist Health Richmond market alone, from 2020 to 2021, the total number of patient visits at the Baptist Health Richmond behavioral health clinic increased by 74%. In 2021, Baptist Health Medical Group cared for over 2,000 new behavioral health patients in the Richmond and Berea market. The Emergency Department cared for over 800 behavioral health patients and over 400 of these patients were transferred to other facilities to receive ongoing inpatient treatment, an 80% increase from 2020.

Baptist Health treats a range of behavioral health conditions, with the most prevalent being depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and substance use. For more specific information, visit www.baptisthealth.com/services/behavioral-health or call the Baptist Health Behavioral Health Resource Connection at 1.800.395.4435.

The Behavioral Health Virtual Care Clinic, along with the freestanding clinics in Corbin, Frankfort, La Grange, Lexington, and Richmond, provide services to those ages 6 and older. The freestanding practices in New Albany, Indiana, and Elizabethtown, Kentucky, serve adults age 18 and older. A new practice is scheduled to open in Louisville in September 2024.

Centennial celebration

The original Kentucky Baptist Hospital in Louisville opened its doors in November 1924 following years of rallying community support and fundraising. Baptist Health has since expanded to nine hospitals and more than 2,700 licensed beds, reaching nearly 75 percent of Kentucky residents and a wide swath of southern Indiana.

In 2024, Baptist Health celebrates its 100th anniversary, and is marking each month with a health-related “gift” to its communities.