CMH set to launch mental health clinic  

Citizens Memorial Hospital plans to expand mental health services by opening a new clinic that officials say will make appointments more readily available for patients in its service area.   

According to a news release, a meet-and-greet gathering and ribbon-cutting ceremony are among Feb. 1 events set for opening day of the CMH Behavioral Health Transitional Clinic, which is part of Butterfield Park Medical Center, 1300 N. Oakland Ave. in Bolivar. The clinic occupies roughly 1,300 square feet in shared space with the CMH Addiction Recovery program, according to health system spokesperson Tamera Heitz-Peek.

“Patients are sometimes in crisis and need to feel supported by having quicker access to behavioral health services,” said Michael Calhoun, CEO and executive director of the health care system and the Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation, in the release. “This clinic will have an important role in helping patients receive the care they need quickly while awaiting an appointment with a CMH behavioral health provider.”

The mental health clinic will care for patients ages 6 years and older who are unable to have an immediate appointment scheduled with a CMH behavioral health provider, according to the release. A referral by a medical provider is needed to schedule an appointment.

Heitz-Peek said startup costs for the clinic were $161,000, noting no renovation or new construction was required for its launch.  

“The clinic plans to move to another space at a future date,” she said via email.  

Tara Billingslea, a mental health nurse practitioner with over 10 years of experience in various outpatient and inpatient psychiatry settings, will lead the clinic, which employs two, Heitz-Peek said. A case manager also is being sought, with the position to be shared with CMH Addiction Recovery, she said. Billingslea’s role with patients is to provide counseling, medication management and education services until they are established with a CMH behavioral health provider.

The mental health clinic marks the latest addition for the health care system, which announced plans last year for roughly $77 million in expansion and renovation work at its Bolivar campus, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

The clinic’s planned opening this week marks the 14th for CMH, which also operates health care facilities in Ash Grove, Buffalo, El Dorado Springs, Greenfield, Humansville, Osceola, Pleasant Hope, Stockton and Willard, according to the release.