Auren O’Connell DNP, ARNP provides care across the lifespan as a Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and practices within Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) in Kittitas County, WA. He is one of only two psychiatric providers in the county and works solely within federally qualified rural health clinics in serving a rural underserved population.
Over the last year, Dr. O’Connell has built a co-located behavioral health program within a rural healthcare clinic in offering brief psychotherapeutic interventions such as behavioral activation and problem solving therapy in addition to psychiatric evaluation and treatment. He has been garnering support among primary care providers and nurses over the last year across KVH in working towards integrated collaborative behavioral healthcare in the primary care setting.
With guidance from the program, Dr. O’Connell plans to champion the transition from fee for service colocated behavioral healthcare, to quality and patient centered integrated collaborative behavioral healthcare within primary care settings across Kittitas County.
Dr. O’Connell looks forward to the day when quality based integrated collaborative behavioral healthcare in the primary care setting is available to residents across rural counties as a standard of care within the great state of Washington.