MultiCare affiliation with Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare official July 1
An affiliation between MultiCare and Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare became official on July 1, allowing the two local health care organizations to combine efforts as they seek more effective ways to improve access to behavioral health services to help address the regional behavioral health shortage crisis.
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. It will expand access to care over a larger geographic region, increase 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.
“Over the past few years we have been working hard to increase access to high quality Behavioral Health services for our community. Through partnership with other outstanding organizations like Navos, Community Psychiatric Clinic, and now Greater Lakes we are taking significant steps toward a future where people will be able to receive the care they need. It is an honor to welcome Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare to the MultiCare family,” said Tim Holmes, president of MultiCare Behavioral Health. “We know that together we can build on each other’s strengths and learn from each other to better address the behavioral health care crisis in our region and our state.”
“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,” says 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.”
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.
