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Business Briefs: Harmony Health Group, Mount Sinai Health System, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Harmony Health Group Acquires 3 Former Delphi Facilities
Harmony Health Group, in partnership with Thrive Healthcare and Brightwood Capital Advisors, announced on Monday that it has added 3 Serenity at Summit facilities formerly operated by Delphi to its expanding portfolio.
The 3 facilities, located in New Jersey and Massachusetts, will be integrated into Harmony’s network of inpatient and outpatient centers across the eastern US. The deal for the Serenity at Summit properties follows Thrive Healthcare’s acquisition of Harmony at the end of 2022. With the acquisition announced on Monday, the company now operates 13 centers across 5 states.
Mount Sinai Health System Opens Behavioral Health Center
Mount Sinai Health System recently opened its new Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center in New York. The new center will cost $140 million to build and offer inpatient, intensive outpatient, and crisis services, including a partial hospitalization program. General outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment services are integrated with primary care.
The center also includes one of New York state’s first intensive crisis residences—a short-term therapeutic residence in a home-like setting for individuals experiencing acute mental health crises not severe enough to require hospitalization. The intensive crisis residence can also serve as a step-down option as patients transition back into their community after an acute hospital stay.
Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center will also function as part of Mount Sinai’s Department of Psychiatry, with the center’s patients eligible to participate in research and clinical trials that contribute to the advancement of psychiatric services.
Blue Cross Minnesota Adding Peer Support Coverage for Commercial Plans
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota announced this week that access to peer support specialists will be a covered benefit for members enrolled in fully insured commercial plans starting January 1, 2024. Blue Cross becomes the first not-for-profit insurer in Minnesota to offer the benefit to individuals with employer-offered health insurance, as well as to those who purchase individual and family coverage on their own.
The move follows the release of National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification for substance use, mental health, and family support by the US Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. All peer support specialists covered by Blue Cross will be credentialed under the new national certification model standards, the company said in a news release.
About 140 agencies in Minnesota currently employ peer support specialists, according to Blue Cross. The insurer added that it anticipates providers onboarding more peer specialists to meet increased demand.
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