Nantucket Community Behavioral Health Initiative

In late 2020, the leaders of NCH and Fairwinds, Nantucket’s counseling center, began conversations to address the under-resourced and fragmented system of mental healthcare on Nantucket. The two were soon joined by the Community Foundation for Nantucket, which provided a grant for initial funding, and NAMI of Cape Cod and the Islands. This group formed the nucleus of what has come to be known as the Nantucket Behavioral Health Initiative (NBHI).

NBHI’s first action was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the island’s mental healthcare delivery system. A steering committee was formed that added leaders from across the island community, including town government, the schools, police, EMS, health and human services organizations, the spiritual community, independent clinicians, and community members, to the NBHI effort.

Government Performance Systems, a Colorado-based consulting firm that participated in a successful similar initiative in Vail, was engaged to conduct the assessment. The resulting report, which can be found at nantuckethospital.org/communityoutreach, confirmed that Nantucket was one of the most under-resourced communities in the Commonwealth for mental health services. The report goes on to identify 16 specific gaps in the continuum of mental health care on the island.

With the assessment in hand, NBHI moved into an operational phase. The leadership group expanded to include the town, the schools, and others. The hospital provided further funding with a major grant from its Community Health Initiative grant program. Joan Quinlan and Nancy Lane, two of the state’s leading experts on community and mental health, were brought in to coordinate the effort.

Collectively, the NBHI leadership group identified addressing the fragmented system of mental health crisis response on the island to be the highest priority. With the support of NCH and the NBHI, Fairwinds applied for and was chosen to be the state designated Community Behavioral Health Center for Nantucket. NCH and Fairwinds then created a partnership that has resulted in a seamless system of crisis response for the island, whether the patient is in the community or at the hospital and regardless of their insurance status. As a result, many patients are seen without needing to go to the Emergency Department while those that do are receiving better care and quicker placement in off-island facilities, if necessary.

In late 2022, the NBHI leadership elected to form a stand-alone 501(c)3 to further its mission to “collaborate to deliver an inclusive and interconnected system of prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery that helps our community get well and stay well.” This will allow for a full-time dedicated director to continue this important work. NCH will be represented on the board and continue to lead and support this important initiative.