Regional behavioral health care gets additional boost through MultiCare/Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare affiliation
By MultiCare Health System
MultiCare, based in Tacoma, and Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare, based in Lakewood, today announced plans to affiliate, in a continuing push by local health care organizations to improve access to behavioral health services in the region. The transaction is pending regulatory review, and is set to close by mid-summer.
Their combined resources will allow the two organizations to work together to strengthen the behavioral health care offerings available in Pierce County and enhance access to whole-person care — both physical and mental — for the people and communities in the region.
“Making sure that the people we serve have access to the physical and mental health care they need is of critical importance to this community and to MultiCare,” said Bill Robertson, President and CEO of MultiCare. “Joining forces with other behavioral health organizations like Greater Lakes allows us to merge resources, build on our individual strengths, and moves us further down the path of addressing the behavioral health care crisis in our region and our state.”
The affiliation will allow MultiCare and Greater Lakes to work toward the shared purpose of creating the most comprehensive network of behavioral health services in the Pacific Northwest in order to expand access to care over a larger geographic region; increase our capacity to expand hospital-based and community-based services; advance the shift to population health; and improve care coordination and the patient experience by streamlining behavioral health services and reducing duplicative care.
“The way we deliver mental health care is evolving, including developing new and better ways to provide behavioral health and physical health care to patients to increase access and accessibility,” said Terri L. Card, President & CEO of Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare. “By combining our professional talents and clinical strengths through an affiliation with MultiCare, we will be in a better position to integrate physical and behavioral health care and provide a higher level of service to our clients.”
Behavioral health and substance abuse issues affect people of all ages and all walks of life. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), nearly one in four adults and one in five children face behavioral health challenges each year.
Current patients of both organizations will see little change and will continue to receive excellent care from the providers they know and trust in the same locations they visit now. Greater Lakes employees will remain Greater Lakes employees, and the Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare name and brand will be retained.
MultiCare Behavioral Health has been serving Pierce and South King counties for more than 40 years. The largest behavioral health provider in Pierce County, MultiCare Behavioral Health reaches more than 20,000 individuals annually through comprehensive inpatient and community services. In 2017, MultiCare announced an affiliation with Seattle-based behavioral health care provider Navos, creating the largest behavioral health organization in Washington state.
About Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare
Since 1965, Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare has empowered hope, relief and recovery for Pierce County residents through a wide range of Behavioral Health services. With more than 350 staff and five facilities throughout Pierce County, Greater Lakes provides care for more than 10,000 people each year. Our evidence-based treatments include counseling, family therapy, school programs, psychiatric assessment, medication management, inpatient psychiatric treatment, residential treatment, homeless outreach and jail intervention services.
At Greater Lakes, we believe that everyone has the potential to recover from mental health challenges and to realize their hopes and dreams. Our clinical philosophy of respect, client choice and empowerment inspires hope and provides the best environment for recovery.
