Ogden 'Wellness Clinic' will be Utah's first one-stop shop for physical, mental health services

OGDEN — Weber Human Services and Midtown Community Health Clinic are in the process of reattaching the head to the body.

In February, the two agencies will open the Wellness Clinic in the Weber Human Services complex at 237 26th St. The clinic will integrate the treatment of mental and physical illness under one roof. It is the first clinic of its kind in the state.

"Integrated care will allow the whole individual to be treated," said project manager Karen Bassett.

Because the treatment of physical and mental illness are largely segregated, the overall health of people with both issues tends to be poor.

Studies show that people with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression served by public mental health systems die, on average, 25 years earlier than the general population. In Utah, they die 29 years earlier, on average.

Most die from cardiovascular disease, diabetes or respiratory disease. Smoking is a major contributing factor to these illnesses, although people with mental illness also have higher rates of alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of exercise and unsafe sexual behaviors than the general population.

Dr. Laura Knudson of Midtown Community Health Clinic said the new Wellness Clinic will be a "health home" for patients struggling with both physical and mental illness. Twenty-four percent of people with mental illness have an identifiable chronic illness, she said. Sixty percent die from conditions that can be readily treated.

"It's hard to live life sometimes if you're a mental health patient," Knudson said.

The goal of integrated care, she said, "is to engage patients as partners in their health care and help them stay as healthy as possible."

Smoking cessation, for instance, will be a high priority for all patients.

Sandy Clark of Ogden receives care from public mental health providers at the Weber Human Services and sees physicians Midtown Community Health Clinic for her health care needs.

"I think it will be fantastic," Clark said, following a brief tour of the clinic, which is still under construction. "Right now I'm going between this place and Midtown."