Summit County to bring behavioral-health clinic under public-health umbrella, plans staffing expansion

Summit County officials told their Board of Health on May 6 that the county will assume direct responsibility for behavioral-health services after contract negotiations with the University of Utah did not produce an agreement.

Phil (Health Department director) said the county council directed the transition and that Aaron Newman, the department’s behavioral-health director, will oversee the service as it moves in-house. "We will now become our own service provider for behavioral health," Phil said, adding that the county has negotiated a three-month extension on the existing contract to avoid interruption.

Phil said the department expects to expand staff from roughly 50 employees to about 75–80 and aims to retain "between 75 to 80%" of current clinicians now employed by the University of Utah. He described plans to integrate behavioral-health and physical-health Medicaid services where feasible and to maintain continuity of care during the transition.

Board members asked whether clinicians would remain University employees; Phil said the choice will rest with individual staff and that the county is preparing job offers and organizational charts. Phil said the county is still identifying clinic space and that the new model will maintain existing services while creating an infrastructure to operate a separate clinic if needed.

The director characterized the move as a substantial operational change but one intended to expand services and resolve outstanding audit findings. Phil said an October target is likely for the county to begin direct operations, with interim contract arrangements extending through the summer.

The board did not take formal action on the transition at the meeting; Phil said staff will return with implementation details as they are developed.