The Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) (unmc.edu/bhecn/) has launched its Southeast Site in Lincoln and a formal opening event was held Tuesday, April 15, from 5-7 p.m. The opening of the site means BHECN now has locations in all six of the state’s behavioral health regions. The newest site will allow BHECN to address the unique behavioral health workforce needs of the southeastern part of the state, said BHECN Director Marley Doyle, MD.
“Southeast Nebraska has a unique blend of urban and rural communities and our newest site will help us ensure we are being responsive to the workforce challenges and opportunities that exist here,” Dr. Doyle said.
Along with having a mix of urban and rural populations, the southeast region is also home to several higher education institutions that help educate behavior health workers, as well as multiple facilities where the need for behavioral health professionals is high. BHECN Southeast will work with partners from across these entities- as well as other behavior health workers- to help identify key workforce challenges and ways BHECN can address them, said site co-directors Wendy Baumeister, PsyD and Kimberly Clsawon, MD.
“BHECN has long been a leader in helping grow our state’s behavior health workforce and we are excited to work to help ensure BHECN’s efforts are more tailored to meet the needs of our region,” Dr. Baumeister said.
“Southeastern Nebraska is unique in many ways and its behavior health workforce needs to reflect that face,” Dr. Clawson said. “By working with stakeholders from a broad array of fields and communities we will help ensure our workforce meets those needs and improves behavioral health for those who live here.”
To learn more about BHECN visit unmc.edu/bhecn/.