Healthcentric wins $390,000 contract to train staff at 13 local nursing homes

PROVIDENCE — Healthcentric Advisors, a Rhode Island based nonprofit specializing in healthcare quality improvement, has been awarded a two-year, $390,000 Special Innovation Project with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to train Rhode Island nursing home staff to serve residents with behavioral health needs.

The project comes as many Rhode Island nursing homes face an increasingly younger population with behavioral health needs. Gail Patry, chief program officer at Healthcentric Advisors, said the nonprofit will work with 13 Rhode Island nursing homes identified through federal data with a high number of residents with mental illness and substance abuse conditions. Patry said she could not identify which nursing homes they’ll be working with.

Staff at the homes will receive additional skills-based training and education on caring for younger individuals with behavioral health concerns. The nonprofit is in the process of reaching out to the 13 facilities and expects the first training sessions to begin by the holidays, Patry said.

Healthcentric Advisors is collaborating to provide the training with the Rhode Island College Institute for Education in Healthcare and the Substance Use and Mental Health Leadership Council of Rhode Island to ensure both professional and paraprofessional staff have the knowledge and skills to provide high quality care. The project will also seek to establish appropriate connections between the nursing homes and the behavioral health and substance use community.

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Healthcentric Advisors was eligible for the contract after winning an unrelated $53.4 million contract from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2014. That is an umbrella contract to provide services to all six New England States over five years.

“Healthcentric Advisors is excited to begin this important work with our partners at Rhode Island College and the Substance Use and Mental Health Leadership Council of RI. By responding to identified skill and knowledge gaps in caring for people with behavioral health and substance use challenges, the participating nursing homes are leaders in being able to provide the highest quality care possible for these individuals,” Patry said.

Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.