Charmaine Dorsey, director of patient and social support services for the LA County Department of Health Services, is one of the masterminds behind the agency’s integration of behavioral health and social services. Photo: Harrison Hill
By J. Duncan Moore, Jr., California Healthcare Foundation, August 17, 2023
When it comes to addressing behavioral health and social needs, Los Angeles County is going big. Its Department of Health Services (DHS) is in the process of executing an ambitious plan to integrate behavioral and social health into the primary care delivery system.
Too often, linking behavioral health to primary care involves handing a patient a phone number and leaving them to find care on their own. Now, many organizations are pursuing a different route by embedding behavioral health resources in primary care clinics.
It is groundbreaking for a system the size of DHS to take this on.
DHS is putting the necessary resources and connections directly in the primary care clinic so patients can’t get lost, distracted, or demoralized on the way to a solution.
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