Mental health clinic opens in Rexburg amid increasing demand for treatment
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IDAHO FALLS – The increasing demand for mental health services prompted the opening of a new mental health clinic in eastern Idaho.
Boise-based Integrity Mental Health opened in November at 160 East Valley River Drive, Suite 4 in Rexburg. With many mental health clinics experiencing long waitlists and appointments being scheduled out as much as six months in advance, Office Manager Reagan Heald tells EastIdahoNews.com their clinic might be more convenient for patients with an urgent need.
“Now that it’s a new year … insurance (benefits) are restarting and people are wanting more (help) with mental health,” Heald says.
The clinic offers a variety of services, including medication management, counseling, psychotherapy, care management, cognitive behavior therapy and more. Telehealth services are also available.
Lockdowns associated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to a huge spike in mental health cases nationwide and in eastern Idaho. The increased awareness of and greater need for mental health services in Idaho led to the creation of the Behavioral Health Council that same year, which Governor Brad Little pointed out in his State of the State Address Monday afternoon.
“Today, I am proposing we accelerate the implementation of the Behavioral Health Council’s recommendations by investing $50 million to improve behavioral healthcare across Idaho. It is one step of many we will take to help prevent tragedy, improve lives, and make our communities safer,” he said.
Julie Moody, a psychiatric mental nurse practitioner at the clinic, says this need for better mental health services is what prompted the opening of Integrity Mental Health in Rexburg.
“There’s a need here,” Moody explains. “There’s been such a stigma about mental health and now people are starting to talk about (it) and reach out and get help for (it).”
One of the things Moody says makes Integrity Mental Health different from other similar clinics is their patient-centered, patient-focused approach.
“If a patient has depression but doesn’t want to take medicine for it, we work with the patient to meet them where they’re at and to help them get to where they want to be,” she says.
Moody is hoping to build up a bigger clientele in Rexburg and offer Ketamine treatment for those with treatment-resistant depression. It comes in many forms but the only one that is FDA-approved is a nasal spray called esketamine, according to WebMD.com.
“We’re new and we have not yet established a huge Rexburg base of clients yet. Our schedule is open,” says Moody. “We just want to grow and meet the community’s needs.
Integrity Mental Health is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. To make an appointment or learn more, call (208) 615-8159 or visit the website.