California Health Care Improvement Projects (CHIPs)

Vietnamese American Service Center

Imagine an under-resourced place in East San Jose where Vietnamese immigrants live with significant health and social disparities. The community is painfully aware that due to legacy of war, political persecution, and mass displacement, they have been through significant multigenerational trauma. They prioritized and advocated for the building of a trusted place where they can receive mental health services in their own language or through an interpreter that they trust. They also participated in designing a “one stop shop” where they can receive holistic care with primary care, pharmacy, labs, health education and other support services.

The Vietnamese American Service Center (VASC) was built in the heart of San Jose’s to address critical mental health needs of this underserved community. Over a span of one year the VASC was able to provide mental health services to 240 patients. Culturally responsive services provided include individual and group counseling, psychiatric services, crisis intervention and peer support services. Other essential services were also made available to this underserved community.

Envisioning a post-pandemic Digital Behavioral Health Department

Rather than seeing COVID-19 as an insurmountable obstacle, I, along with my team at Community Health Centers of the Central Coast (CHCCC), Inc., viewed it as an opportunity to accelerate the pace of innovation. To better meet the needs of the community, the CHC Behavioral Health and Psychiatry Departments are committed to moving beyond brick-and-mortar clinics to a ‘click and mortar’ clinic in the sky, the Cielo Center for Integrated Health. Like many health centers CHCCC quickly shifted to virtual care not long after the pandemic emerged. However, not until the Omicron wave of Covid-19 in January 2021 did I commit to transitioning the behavioral health department to a fully digital service model. The entire landscape of healthcare changed in 2020. I realized I had to pivot our strategy and re-design our clinical structure. I began to design a CHIP in late January with the project aim of increasing access to behavioral health services by creating an organized, fully digital continuity-of-care system for our patients. This system includes a network of remote behavioral health clinicians to ensure patients are provided with outreach and engagement, wellness coaching, counseling, and psychiatry services. An integrated team of physicians, nurses, counselors, health educators, psychiatrists, and care coordinators collaboratively engages, triages and coordinates care through a cloud-based EHR system. This model creates a digital doorway for patients, allowing them to access services anywhere in the community. Moreover, this hybrid model of in-person and remote services bridges the digital divide and promotes health equity by ensuring patients have choices along the continuum of care.