MultiCare Health System, the largest provider of behavioral health care in Washington, has partnered with Valera Health, a tele-behavioral health service that provides personalized team-based clinical care, to increase access to mental health care through comprehensive virtual services.
The demand for behavioral health services has been steadily increasing over the past few years, heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, a national staff shortage challenged MultiCare’s ability to expand to meet the need.
MultiCare seeks innovative ways to offer virtual health care to our clients during the pandemic. Starting today, Valera’s technology-driven mental health care services will be available to MultiCare patients, providing thousands of individuals access to licensed therapists, nurse practitioners, case managers and psychiatrists. The partnership builds on MultiCare’s extensive network of community-based care, connecting patients to Valera’s virtual delivery model. Together, MultiCare and Valera will offer virtual care to adults, youth and children across the full spectrum of mental health services from brief therapy to long-term treatment for severe and persistent mental illness.
“Even before the pandemic, the need for behavioral health services was increasing in our communities,” explains Tim Holmes, president of MultiCare’s Behavioral Health Network. “And with the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a dramatic surge in demand for our services, while also experiencing a national staffing shortage. Our dedicated teams developed new and innovative ways to serve our community, but the demand continues to exceed our capacity. Our communities rely on us for timely care, and we are excited to partner with Valera Health to ensure people receive the services they need.”
MultiCare is committed to expanding access to care and providing high-quality, integrated physical and behavioral health care. This commitment inspires leaders to seek partnerships with innovative companies that can enhance their services and reach more individuals in need.
“We are responding to the increased need for quality tele-healthcare by providing affordable and easily accessible virtual mental health support,” said Valera Health CEO and Co-Founder, Dr. Thomas Tsang. “We are excited to partner with MultiCare to provide effective and inclusive virtual mental health services to underserved populations throughout Washington.”
Valera’s services will be made available to patients referred to MultiCare for mental health care. These will complement services provided by Navos, Greater Lakes and MultiCare Behavioral Health.
With a team-based care model, Valera Health breaks down barriers to accessing care and prioritizes patients’ mental health through value-based models that focus on outcomes. Valera’s virtual mental health services provide personalized mental health services to everyone in need and offers culturally intentional care to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Valera currently covers more than 30 million lives through partnership with more than 20 health plans across seven states and will be expanding to additional states over the coming months.
About Valera Health
Valera Health is a high performing mental health company providing comprehensive longitudinal service using a team-based care model of coaches, therapists and medication prescribers augmented by proprietary digital technology and analytics. From meditation to therapy to medications, patients with mild depression to severe schizophrenia are treated with expert care. A focus on quality has achieved high HEDIS scores and produced significant outcomes. For more information go to: www.valerahealth.com.
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About MultiCare Health System
MultiCare is a not-for-profit health care organization with more than 20,000 team members, eleven hospitals and numerous primary care, urgent care and specialty services. MultiCare has been caring for our community for over a century, since the founding of Tacoma’s first hospital. Today, MultiCare is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in the state of Washington.
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