Governor Roy Cooper attended an event yesterday announcing a $3.2 million investment from United Health Foundation to expand psychiatric services to children across the state. It’s an expansion of the North Carolina Statewide telepsychiatry program, or NC-STeP, which provides virtual consultations and diagnoses at 63 hospitals and clinics across the state. The money will be used to bring these resources to 6 pediatric clinics in rural North Carolina.
The NC-STeP program is run through East Carolina University’s Center for Telepsychiatry. Dr. Sy Saeed, who is the head of NC-STeP, said the program seeks to address the shortage of mental health care professionals in rural areas.
Ninety-two of North Carolina’s 100 counties are found to have shortages in mental health care, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Shortage designations are determined based on the number of mental health providers compared to population, drive time to the nearest mental health professional, and whether the area is high need.
Cooper said the program is just one way the state is addressing rural health needs.
“Our constitution requires every child have a sound basis for their education," he said, citing the 1997 and 2004 Leandro Supreme Court rulings that spurred the creation of an eight-year plan to address financial inequities in the state. ”Part of that is to have counselors, psychologists, social workers and people around these children that are helping them with their mental health."
70% of children in North Carolina with a mental health disorder do not receive treatment, according to the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health. The need for mental health care has only grown in recent years as the prevalence of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues among school age children has risen since the pandemic. With the $3.2 million investment, 6 clinics will open in rural, underserved areas that have yet to be named.
The use of telehealth for treating mental health disorders has been found to be cheaper and more accessible, which is why the state and mental health advocacy organizations look to telehealth as one solution to the urban-rural healthcare disparity.
As of January, NC-STeP has conducted 57,000 consultations serving more than 14,000 people since its inception in 2013.
