May 2025 – Celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month
Mental Health Awareness Month highlights the importance of mental health to ALL areas of our lives—our physical well-being, how we work and perform in school, and our ability to participate fully in family and community activities.
The need for mental health resources has greatly increased throughout Wallace’s service area over the last few years and in the broader Multnomah County and State of Oregon. Wallace is responding, thanks to a recent $1.1 million Behavioral Health Service Expansion grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program.
“Aside from diabetes and hypertension, behavioral and mental health disorders are some of the most common conditions we see at Wallace,” said Bethany Stairs DNP, Wallace’s Medical Director. “We’re excited to grow our mental health services.”
When complete, Wallace’s expanded team will include a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, a professional mental health counselor with specialization in addiction, and two behavioral health providers as well as patient coordination staff and language interpretation support. The two-year timeline calls for a 45% increase in the number of patients receiving mental health services. Along with adding capacity for behavioral and mental health support, the team will expand its ability to provide treatment for substance use disorders, expecting to serve a minimum of 150 patients in this way by the end of 2026.
“Receiving this grant right now is huge for us, and for our community,” added Stairs. “I am so proud of our team and their commitment to our patients. We’re all eager to dig in!”
