By: Ted Miller, Chief of External Affairs 

Rep. Derek Kilmer and David Wilkinson, Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, third and fourth from right, respectively, joined staff from Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell’s office to learn how the Social Innovation Fund has helped patients of the Peninsula Community Health Services.

Last week, we had the pleasure of visiting with the leaders of the Peninsula Community Health Services in Bremerton, Washington, an organization that is one of 400 community-based groups that successfully competed for funding from the Social Innovation Fund.

In this case, the Bremerton-based center secured funding through the John A. Hartford Foundation, a Social Innovation Fund grantee.

One of the reasons we visited Bremerton is because we heard of the progress they were making, yet we are concerned that the current Senate appropriations bill does not include funding for the Social Innovation Fund. That means more stories like the one you’re about to read may not materialize.

Let’s start from the top: Peninsula Community Health Services last year served 24,884 patients, providing basic medical care, dental services, and mental health support. The mental health supports include treatment for depression as well as addiction.

In short, the dedicated professionals give hope those in the toughest of circumstances.

For instance, we learned about one man’s journey from being misdiagnosed as suffering from a bipolar disorder to getting ready to re-enter the workforce.

This 40-year-old male had been referred from another health facility to the Peninsula Community Health Services. In March, he completed a health assessment that uncovered a few things: First, he had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, instead of major depression. The staff worked together to help him get the right medication, and he started feeling well enough by June that he could get a part-time job. In July, his signs of progress were so much better that he eventually secured full-time employment.

Any of us know someone who has had a similar experience knows how invaluable it is to get the right treatment after a correct diagnosis.

There are many stories like this one, but there are a couple of key things that have happened in the last few years that make this man’s experience possible.

In 2012, 57 percent of the people who turned to Peninsula Community Health Services did not have insurance. In 2015, that number dropped to 10 percent, as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Washington leaders’ decision to expand Medicaid eligibility under the ACA.

It is great that so many people now have better health care. But as the professionals who provide this care know, individuals who have gone without basic coverage can find navigating the health-insurance system a big challenge.

That’s where the Social Innovation Fund grant this center received comes into play.

You see, the funding helped Peninsula Community Health Services, identify best practices when it comes to focusing on patients in need of psychiatric care. These patients are low-income and often face other barriers that keep them from getting all the services necessary to improve their health.

The Social Innovation Fund grant helped establish a position of a care coordinator who works with the patients to connect the dots. That means the health-care providers and others involved are operating on the same page, thus making it easier to keep the patient on the path to better health.

So far, more than 600 people have benefited from this program, and because it is part of the Social Innovation Fund, similar health centers will learn about these results and apply these lessons in their own care.

True to the Social Innovation Fund’s spirit, we want to find what worked for one man who went from being misdiagnosed to being happier, employed individual  and make what worked for him work for more people.