After months of uncertainty over the fate of some of Worcester’s most critical behavioral health programs, UMass Memorial Health says it has found new operators for Community Healthlink services across Central Massachusetts, clearing the way for the organization itself to close after more than four decades.
The agreements mark a major turning point in a transition that has generated concern among Worcester officials, employees, clients and advocates since plans to wind down Community Healthlink began emerging this spring. Community Healthlink serves more than 22,000 adults, children and families annually, providing mental health care, substance use treatment, housing assistance and other services.
Under transition plans announced Friday, Behavioral Health Network assumes operation of a substantial share of Community Healthlink’s Worcester-based services, while five other nonprofit providers take over additional programs in Worcester and elsewhere in the region.
UMass Memorial said that most Community Healthlink programs will continue under the new operators, while some will be redesigned to better meet community needs. Once the transfers are completed, Community Healthlink will cease operations.
No final date for the organization’s closure was included in Friday’s announcement.
For Worcester, perhaps the most significant development is the agreement with Behavioral Health Network, which will take over the Worcester Community Behavioral Health Center along with mental health and addiction counseling and support programs, substance use stabilization and recovery services, the Program for Assertive Community Treatment, Adult Community Clinical Support group living and individual environments and the Worcester Clinical Team serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The agreement resolves one of the largest unanswered questions surrounding the closure.
UMass Memorial confirmed to the Worcester Guardian in May that negotiations with Open Sky Community Services to assume several major Worcester programs had ended without an agreement. Among them were the Worcester Community Behavioral Health Center, PACT 1 and 2, ACCS and other services.
Behavioral Health Network will now step into much of that role.
“As we assume operation of several CHL programs in Worcester, continuity of care remains our highest priority, and we are committed to supporting clients through a smooth transition,” Behavioral Health Network CEO Steve Winn said in Friday’s announcement.
BHN plans to hold listening sessions in August and September to hear from clients, community members and other stakeholders about which services have been most useful and what they would like to see from the region’s behavioral health system going forward.
Other pieces of the Community Healthlink network are being divided among several providers.
Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance takes responsibility for Continuum of Care supportive housing services. Eliot Community Human Services will operate the Tenancy Protection Program and Community Support Program for Homeless Individuals, while Mentor South Bay will assume the Early Intervention program.
Clinical & Support Options takes over several programs based in North Central Massachusetts, including the Leominster Community Behavioral Health Center, PACT, the Leominster Community Support Program and Leominster Clinical Team.
Open Sky, meanwhile, assumes ownership of Community Healthlink properties on Sigourney and Orchard streets and plans to establish a residential recovery program for people with co-occurring conditions at the sites, pending state approval.
The agreements provide considerably more clarity than existed just a few weeks ago, when a new round of federally required layoff notices showed 231 Community Healthlink jobs expected to end by Sept. 16.
A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing reported in July increased the projected number of affected employees by 104, bringing the total to 231—158 union positions and 73 nonunion jobs.
Those notices, however, did not necessarily mean all 231 workers would ultimately be out of work.
UMass Memorial had said employees were required to receive 60 days’ notice before their Community Healthlink jobs ended, even when the programs themselves were expected to continue under another organization.
Friday’s announcement offered the clearest indication yet that a significant number of those workers could remain with the services they currently provide.
UMass Memorial said many Community Healthlink employees are expected to move into jobs with the organizations assuming their programs. Keeping those workers in place could also allow clients to continue receiving services from clinicians and other staff they already know.
“A significant priority throughout the transition process was minimizing the impact on both clients and caregivers,” UMass Memorial said in the release.
Community Healthlink President Gordon Benson credited employees with keeping programs running during months of uncertainty.
“We are so grateful for how they have continued showing up for our clients, day after day, so every individual can access the high-quality and compassionate care they deserve,” Benson said in the announcement.
Community Healthlink’s planned closure has been closely watched in Worcester, where the organization has been a major part of the behavioral health safety net for decades.
In April, the Worcester City Council unanimously called for immediate talks involving UMass Memorial, city officials, state agencies, labor representatives and potential providers amid fears that the closure could leave holes in a system already struggling with demand for mental health and substance use treatment.
Council Vice Chair Khrystian King warned at the time that Worcester had already experienced reductions in substance use treatment capacity and stressed the importance of preserving both services and the workforce needed to provide them.
Public Health and Human Services Committee Chair Gary Rosen questioned how Community Healthlink had reached the point of closure and pushed for direct discussions with UMass Memorial and prospective replacement providers.
Friday’s announcement does not preserve Community Healthlink itself, but it answers one of the central questions that has hung over the process: who will be there when it is gone?
UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said in the release that Community Healthlink’s programs have been part of the region’s health care system for years.
“While CHL as an organization will close, its legacy and impact will live on thanks to these trusted partners who will continue to serve clients throughout the region,” Dickson said.
Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services Kiame Mahaniah said the state has worked with Community Healthlink and the incoming providers to protect both access to care and employment opportunities for workers.
“The Healey-Driscoll Administration remains committed to ensuring continuity of care and services for those served by these programs, and access to jobs for staff who provide these critical services,” Mahaniah said in the announcement.
UMass Memorial said Community Healthlink’s website continues to be updated as individual programs complete their transitions.
For an organization that has spent more than 40 years woven into Central Massachusetts’ behavioral health system, the transition still represents an ending. But after months in which the fate of programs serving thousands of people remained unsettled, Friday’s announcement provides a much clearer picture of what comes next—and, for most of those services, who will be there to provide it.
