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Omnes Independent Practice Association, a health care collective for central New York, will work toward improving health outcomes for individuals with mental health and substance use disorders after its formation in July, according to the association’s executives.

The Central New York Behavioral Health Care Collaborative announced the formation of Omnes in a press release. The group is a joint effort with some of the BHCC’s lead partners, including Helio Health, Liberty Resources, Upstate Cerebral Palsy and Inclusive Alliance Independent Practice Association.

The founding members will create an integrated network with a variety of services in areas such as substance use, mental health, developmental disabilities and social services.

The network was named Omnes, which is Latin for “all” or “everyone,” to reflect the community-oriented nature of healthcare, the release reads. 

Katie Weldon, a former adjunct professor at University at Albany’s School of Social Welfare graduate program, was named executive director of Omnes. Weldon graduated from Syracuse University’s Master of Social Work program at Falk College.

“My role was bringing together all the providers in our network, … bringing together the vision of the organizing partners and making sure that we had a foundation to really build this larger network,” Weldon said.

The cornerstone of Omnes is bringing together a variety of local organizations, all of whom had to put aside their competition in order to work together as a collective, said Jeremy Klemanski, chair of the Omnes Board of Managers and president and CEO of Helio Health, in the press release.

There was a learning curve to the collective’s teamwork due to all of the organizations coming from every corner of central New York, Weldon said.

“This wasn’t just providers in Syracuse, or just providers in Utica. It was providers across five counties coming together with folks that they may have never worked with previously,” she said. “It was really about building that trust and building that rapport, which resulted in us being able to develop this larger network.”

The project would never have happened without the funding and support from the New York state Office of Mental Health and Office of Addiction Services and Supports, Weldon said.

“Over the last three-and-a-half years, they’ve worked with us to ensure we had the support we needed to be able to reach our outcomes,” Weldon said. “If it wasn’t for that funding, we never would have been able to do this.”

The BHCC brought together more than 35 Medicaid providers in central New York, which created the foundation for Omnes, according to the release.

“It’s the way the entire state is moving towards, and it really helps to break down a lot of barriers that folks seeking treatment previously have faced, because we’re all working together to create these common processes,” Weldon said. “It’s going to be much easier for communities to get the assistance that they need when they need it.”

Published on September 7, 2021 at 1:03 am

Contact Richard: rcperrin@syr.edu | @richardperrins2