CRANSTON – Rhode Island’s response rate for answering calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline hit 99% during the first quarter of 2020, a rate that state health officials attribute to routing the calls to BH Link, a state-sponsored mental health group, which began last summer.
Lifeline callers in the Ocean State are connected directly with BH Link, a round-the-clock mental health triage and crisis center that is funded by the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals.
From January through March of this year, Rhode Island led the nation in Lifeline calls answered in-state, with 1,157 of 1,167 calls answered by a mental health worker within the state.
After BH Link was tasked with taking Lifeline calls, the number of calls made by Rhode Islanders that were answered by someone in Rhode Island jumped from 15% to 99%, according to BHDDH.
Gateway Health was previously answering Lifeline calls in Rhode Island, but the organization was not taking the calls 24 hours a day, BHDDH spokesman Randal Edgar said.
“Answering calls quickly and connecting people with local services and support can save lives,” said Kathryn Power, acting director of BHDDH. “That’s why we are pleased that Rhode Island is answering these calls in a prompt manner, before they have to be routed out of state.”
Frank Shea, interim director of Horizon Healthcare Partners, which oversees the Lifeline calls in Rhode Island, cited one example of a suicidal caller who was immediately connected to help and taken to a local hospital last year.
“Being able to immediately connect someone in distress to local resources and having access to the BH Link mobile van can mean the difference between life and death,” Shea said.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
