The East Texas Behavioral Healthcare Network is a horizontal network comprised of eleven community mental health and mental retardation centers that cover 70 Counties in Texas. The member centers are: ACCESS, Andrews Center, The Burke Center, The Gulf Coast Center, Lakes Regional MHMR, Community Healthcore, Spindletop MHMR, Tri-County Services, Bluebonnet Trails MHMR, Gulf Bend Center, and Pecan Valley. The network was established in 1998 as a response to the unique challenges that these organizations face in delivering care effectively and efficiently to consumers living in the region. In the constantly changing environment in which the community centers exist, it is necessary for ETBHN to be flexible and able to adapt to the changing needs of the centers’ that it serves.

The governing body of the network is the Regional Oversight Committee. The members of this committee are the CEO’s of each Member Center and one at large member that is a consumer of services or a family member of a consumer of services.

ETBHN has been very effective in developing economies of scale, assisting with quality of services, and delivering training initiatives for the member centers since the inception of the program. Some of these include: A closed door pharmacy, A Regional Planning and Network Advisory Committee, A regional Utilization Review Committee, some joint purchasing contracts, various audit functionality, and a menu of items Member Centers can choose from for consolidation. For a list of current projects and initiatives, please contact Gary Bramlett, LMSW, ETBHN Executive Director at 936-676-1240.