As of June, the health system has a total of 1,594 employed therapists, an increase of 45.3 percent, according to the report.
In 2013, the Department of Managed Health Care fined the health system $4 million for several “deficiencies” in its delivery of mental healthcare services, including failing to track patient data in a timely manner to ensure the prompt delivery of health services, failure to fix quality problems and not providing enough information about mental health benefits. Kaiser Permanente disputed the citation, but paid the fine.
Health system officials described the increase of mental health professionals as “part of the organization’s ongoing efforts to be the leader in providing high-quality mental healthcare,” as well as eliminating the stigma tied to seeking care for mental illness, according to the report.
In addition to adding more mental health professionals, Kaiser Permanente plans to spend $115 million to remodel at least 76 of its mental health clinics across California and spend millions more for the construction of new mental health facilities.
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