Mental Health & Substance Abuse

The mission of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Community Health Centers (MACHC) membership is "to provide health care services to the medically underserved and uninsured residents of Maryland and Delaware." Members are accomplishing their mission by delivering accessible, affordable, cost effective, and quality primary and behavioral health care to needy individuals in rural and urban communities.

It has been shown that a majority of Americans receiving treatment for behavioral health conditions receive it from a primary care physician. Many behavioral health conditions may be discovered by a primary care physician, even though the original intent of the visit was for a physical ailment. Several factors that contribute to “psychosocial-related medical utilization” include mental health and substance abuse disorders, stress, lack of coping skills and other psychological and social conditions. With the increasing attention given to mental health care in our country today, MACHC continues to work with state health agency staff, Community Health Centers, and with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) to disseminate appropriate information around the integration of mental health in the primary care setting and to provide the necessary support to our members as new policies and recommendations are considered and implemented.

For more information on current Mental Health and Substance Abuse initiatives please contact Esther Lwanga at 301-577-0097x 25 or email esther.lwanga@machc.com.