Mississippi State University-Meridian’s new Mental and Behavioral Health Clinic is a step closer to realization with renovations to establish the facility now underway in downtown Meridian.
The new clinic, on track to open in January, will offer mental and behavioral health services to East Mississippi residents.
Contracts are in place and renovations have begun on the third floor of the Regions Bank Building on 22nd Avenue to prepare seven counseling rooms that will double as training spaces for graduate students, according to a recent news release from MSU-Meridian. Services offered will treat children and adults while preparing graduating students to fill rural healthcare provider gaps statewide.
The new facility will bring a new level of training within the Division of Education by reintroducing faculty members to part-time practice, said Kim Hall, MSU associate dean of academic affairs who oversees the MSU-Meridian division.
“We’re all about serving others, so this gives our faculty the chance to still practice, to still serve others, and then bring fresh ideas into the classroom,” Hall said in the release. “It’s the real-world experience we’ve really been missing.”
The new clinic will help alleviate overburdened area mental health clinics by reducing long wait lists and by accepting Medicaid and other insurance not all practitioners currently offer, she said.
“We won’t be in competition with anyone,” Hall added. “We will be taking the overflow and relieving the current burden on the healthcare system.”
Hall said renovations are minimal and office furniture already is being moved in.
“We have hired the billing specialist and are interviewing counselors presently,” she said. “We are hoping to start seeing clients in January, but that depends on the insurance credentialing process.”
Administrators also will need to hire a clinical director and a full-time licensed psychologist, she said.
MSU received $4.5 million in grants from the Broadhead, Riley and Phil Hardin foundations to fund the new services. This past year with the funding, the college was able to establish a Bachelor of Science in Educational Psychology and Educational Specialist in School Psychology degrees, along with a Doctor of Psychology in Combined Health Service Psychology.
“These services are an enhancement to our established healthcare programs already positioning students to meet our state’s most crucial healthcare needs,” said David Buys, associate vice provost of Health Sciences and interim head of campus. “Research indicates the highest number of disparities exist in these underserved populations, and the opening of this facility comes at a time when worker shortages, particularly in mental healthcare, are critically high.”