Shutterstock.com
AÂ historic shortage of mental health care providers in the United States has become an even greater concern over the past year as a growing number of people have sought treatment for behavioral health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diversus Health, which describes itself as the only community behavioral health care provider in El Paso County, saw 14,121 clients from July 2020 through March 24 alone, according to Elario Rickey, vice president of marketing and communications. Most sessions with clinicians have been taking place remotely since the pandemic began, with patients logging into web conferencing software for treatment. But even as telehealth has kept services available in many cases, Diversus (formerly AspenPointe) has been forced to refer an unusually high number of patients to other providers in the region as its workforce has remained at capacity.