Integrea Mental Health awarded $867K to expand rural care, services

BY SAM VISE

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

EAST ALABAMA — Rural healthcare in Chambers County is slated for a major boost following the award of an $867,545 grant to Integrea Mental Health through the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program.

The funding is part of a statewide rollout announced by Gov. Kay Ivey on Aug. 24, distributing more than $144 million across 138 grants to healthcare institutions in all 67 Alabama counties. The program, administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, is federally backed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which designated $203 million to Alabama for rural care expansion in its first year.

While the name Integrea Mental Health may be new to some local residents, the organization’s presence in East Alabama stretches back decades.

“We used to be East Alabama Mental Health Center,” said Jimmie Dickey, CEO of Integrea. “It was a name change only back in 2024. Same staff, same board, same structure. We just found that we needed to differentiate ourselves, so we went through a rebranding. But we’ve been around since 1960. We’re the same old folks.”

Integrea serves as the nonprofit community mental health safety net for Chambers, Russell, Lee and Tallapoosa counties. The grant specifically targets rural care in Chambers and Tallapoosa counties, helping the center transition toward the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model.

“It helps us transition to this CCBHC model, which is absolutely without question the best model that exists for mental healthcare in this country,” Dickey said. “Right now, we’re on a fee-for-service model, but CCBHC is foundationally based on the cost of providing quality, good outcomes and appropriate access. It creates a mechanism for us to look at each individual community and build out what’s needed instead of just being pigeonholed into a few service lines.”

At the heart of the initiative is comprehensive care coordination. Dickey said in rural areas, untreated mental health conditions often intersect with severe chronic physical illnesses and social barriers.

“What care coordination does is it creates a way for us to be significantly more proactive in supporting patients and managing their specific needs. For us, it all starts with mental health,” Dickey said. “But in so many people we serve, we see serious unaddressed primary care issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, serious deficits in daily living skills and what we call the social determinants of health, which are things like economic stability and quality educational access. Through care coordination, we can address and support those either with our own staff or through community partners.”

The funding will also bolster crisis response services and bridge technology gaps for rural residents who face significant transportation hurdles. Dickey said Integrea plans to roll out an interactive patient portal, integrate with Alabama’s One Health Record for cross-provider communication and expand telehealth capabilities.

Chambers County has played a direct role in recent facility growth. Integrea recently expanded its inpatient acute crisis stabilization unit from 12 to 16 beds, an effort Dickey credited directly to local leadership.

“The Chambers County Commission was incredibly instrumental in partnering with us over the last few years in being able to expand some of our access, and we are so grateful for that,” Dickey said. “We’ve got a story to tell. We’re doing a ton of good things in the community through these partnerships.”

Because Alabama is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid, rural safety net providers carry a heavy financial load. Dickey said roughly 40% of the individuals walking through Integrea’s doors have no health insurance or financial resources, yet the clinic turns no one away.

To ensure Chambers County residents can easily navigate care, Integrea operates a central intake line for everything from routine inquiries to acute mental health emergencies.

“We try to be very intentional about removing any kind of friction in accessing us,” Dickey said. “We have one single number we ask people to call. If they’re in crisis, if they’re curious about services or if they’ve finally decided they want to take the step and get treatment, we will get folks, assess what’s going on and link them up to whatever services they need.”

Residents seeking mental health services, crisis response or general information can contact Integrea at (334) 742-2877 or visit the Chambers County office, located at 6376 Fairfax Bypass in Valley.