Governor Gordon Announces Roadmap to Improve Mental Health Care in Wyoming

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2024

CONTACT: Michael Pearlman, Communications Director

Michael.Pearlman@wyo.gov

 

Governor Gordon Announces Roadmap to Improve Mental Health Care in Wyoming

Priorities will build and expand on existing efforts

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon today announced the launch of an initiative to address Wyoming’s ongoing mental health crisis. The Governor’s “Mental Health Roadmap” takes steps to advancing systemic behavioral health reform in Wyoming, identifying five pillars that are critical to improving outcomes for those who are battling mental health issues. The strategy builds and expands upon existing programs and reflects the ongoing work of many people across Wyoming, as well as the Legislature. 

The five pillars are:

• Access to Care-- Ensuring residents have access to the continuum of behavioral health services.
• Affordability of Care-- Ensuring cost is not a barrier to accessing services in Wyoming.
• Quality of Care-- Delivering the highest quality of service based on best practices and evidence-based research.
• Innovation--Constantly thinking of ways to improve our system based on new research and information. 
• Suicide Prevention and Anti-Stigma efforts

Each pillar has priorities and key strategies to achieve those priorities.

“The community engagement that we’ve had, including the recent mental health town halls, along with the work of the legislative and judicial branches have led us to identify our priorities and our most significant challenges,” Governor Gordon said. “We know how critical it is to Wyoming’s future to address the mental healthcare needs of our residents.”

Some of the priority strategies identified in the mental health roadmap incorporate work that is already underway. This includes the Mental Health Diversion Court Pilot Project in Campbell County; healthcare workforce development efforts through the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and Veterans Talking to Veterans.

Other strategies are included in the Governor’s budget proposal, including full funding for the Wyoming 988 suicide prevention hotline, along with the addition of text and chat services; redesign of community behavioral health services; funding for pediatric virtual mental health services; and funding for mobile crisis services to support first responders when they respond to behavioral health crises. 

A copy of the Mental Health Roadmap may be found here. The complete Wyoming Behavioral Health Reform Report can be found through a link on the Governor’s Mental Health website. 

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