Groundbreaking “Certified Mental Health Assistant” Program developed by NEOMED passes the Ohio Senate

Groundbreaking "Certified Mental Health Assistant" Program developed by NEOMED passes the Ohio Senate

Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), located in the Greater Cleveland area, received promising news from state lawmakers in late June before the start of the legislature's summer break: The Ohio Senate passed legislation, Senate Bill 60 (SB60), that would create a new profession to help address the mental health crisis in the state. The Certified Mental Health Assistant (CMHA) program, developed by NEOMED, would help fill a critical gap in the health care workforce.

"Certified mental health assistants would receive the same basic anatomy, physiology and pharmacology training that a physician's assistant or medical student would receive, but they would have a focused clinical training experience in integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment," said NEOMED President John Langell, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.

Randon Welton, M.D., is chair of NEOMED's Department of Psychiatry. He emphasized, "I am very pleased to see this bill proceed," adding, "This new provider in the mental health and addiction space will help increase access for all Ohioans, especially the Medicaid population."

According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration:

• Ohio has 137 areas, comprised of 4.8 million residents, designated as Mental Health Care Professional Shortage Areas
• More than 150 million U.S. residents live in federally designated mental health professional shortage areas

"With Sen. Theresa Gavarone's leadership, SB60 passed the Senate, which brings us closer to helping bolster the mental health and addiction workforce," said Dr. Langell. "We will now work with our House sponsor, Rep. Gail Pavliga, to get this legislation passed in the House. NEOMED will continue to work with the legislature to help solve health care workforce issues."