RICHMOND — The Virginia Telemental Health Initiative, a statewide virtual free mental health clinic and workforce development program, announced Lackey Free Clinic in Yorktown has joined it as a referring free and charitable clinic partner.
Lackey Free Clinic provides free medical and dental care to adults without insurance. Interested patients can contact Lackey Free Clinic at lackeyclinic.org to determine their eligibility and make appointments.
According to VTMHI, the program expands access to mental health care in Virginia by delivering free teletherapy to uninsured and underinsured patients referred by clinic partners.
VTMHI adds it is simultaneously focused on growing the mental health workforce. VTMHI matches volunteer pre-licensed mental health providers in the process of completing licensure with a clinical supervisor to achieve needed patient contact hours while providing pro bono services to patients of participating free and charitable clinics.
Since its inception, the program says 60 pre-licensed mental health providers have served more than 350 unique patients. To date, over a dozen providers who volunteered with VTMHI to meet their patient contact hour requirements have become licensed.
“We’re so grateful to our clinic partners and volunteers who have helped create an innovative structure that is putting mental health services within the reach of Virginians who otherwise could not afford or access it,” said Mara Servaites, Executive Director of VTMHI. “It’s the first model we know of in the U.S. with a dual mission of providing free mental health services to medically underserved populations virtually while also supporting the next generation of mental health providers with the licensure process so they can enter the workforce faster.”
Founded by the Virginia Telehealth Network, the program is possible through a collaboration between the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the University of Virginia Karen S. Rheuban Center for Telehealth, the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center and VTMHI’s volunteers and free and charitable clinic partners.
Mental health providers licensed in Virginia or pursuing licensure in Virginia can learn more about volunteering for VTMHI here. To learn more about VTMHI, visit virginiatelementalhealth.org/.
