ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Based on the Well being Assets and Providers Administration, 94% of Virginia’s cities and counties have a scarcity of psychological well being professionals.
That’s one motive the Virginia Telemental Well being Initiative (VTMHI) launched to offer free digital counseling. Roanoke’s Bradley Free Clinic started providing the periods Wednesday morning and had three sufferers already sit via VTMHI periods.
Christine Wright, behavioral well being program supervisor, says when Bradley’s psychological well being providers opened three years in the past, they noticed 40 sufferers a yr. They now see over 450 sufferers a yr.
“It comes all the way down to the capability. It’s not that we don’t have nice companies and organizations already doing actually wonderful work, it’s that have been all busting on the seams and the necessity is a lot better want than any of us can meet,” she stated.
By way of the initiative, uninsured and Medicaid sufferers can converse with a volunteer psychological healthcare resident and their supervisor over a video name from the consolation of their residence or utilizing the services at Bradley.
“It’s not solely assembly the wants of our neighborhood who’re looking for these assets, however it’s bettering the long run by supporting these residents which might be pursuing their licensing to the place we’ll have much more availability all through the neighborhood,” stated Wright.
Roanoke sufferers can join free psychological well being providers via the Bradley Free Clinic. For extra details about free providers close to you, go to the VTMHI website.
