Accessible Community Mental Health Care
Mental Health Clinic Visit at HCMC Careers Day
HCMC Couches Donated for Therapy Offices
Katie Donahoo first partnered with Howard County Medical Center (HCMC) in January 2022, their mental health department consisted of just one clinician who traveled into the area to serve patients one day a week. It was a bare-bones operation, but HCMC had a vision: build a functioning, sustainable mental health clinic to serve the St. Paul, Nebraska community. They asked Blue Elephant Counseling, Katie’s company, to help bring that vision into fruition.
For Katie, caring for the community isn’t just a mission – it’s also home. Born and raised in Grand Island, she currently lives in Dannebrog, just 15 minutes from St. Paul. She understands that for many in rural areas, driving even 30 minutes one way for a mental health appointment is often unrealistic. Driving hours? Simply impossible. Having services available locally and expanding reach through telehealth is critical.
“It means greater support and access for a truly underserved community. It helps to chip away at the stigma surrounding mental health care when residents see their own community investing in these vital services,” Katie explained. “For these small communities to know that people care about them and are putting support toward their mental health and the future of their community is just so important.”
It was a true ground-up build. Katie and her team created all the clinical documentation, assessments, and billing processes, set up compliant and operational workflows. They successfully secured over $300,000 in workforce grant funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to get the department staffed and moving.
Three and a half years later, HCMC has a fully functioning, sustainable mental health clinic serving St. Paul and surrounding communities full-time. One of the most impactful aspects of the project has been training the next generation of clinicians within the community. Katie personally trained two interns who are now full-time, licensed mental health providers deeply embedded in the community they serve. This “grow your own” approach ensures that care endures, fueled by local hearts and hands.
The HCMC vision is now a reality, with the department fully supported by trained staff, robust systems, and strong momentum for continued growth. For Katie, the work to promote and provide accessible mental health care to all in Greater Nebraska continues.
“I think that now is the time to advocate for mental health as a state because it is so needed and it’s a vital service,” said Katie. “I think that gets overlooked, both the necessity and how preventative it can be for other systemic health care issues. If we can get mental health services to be more robust, then I truly believe that it would decrease the need for the utilization of more emergent and costly types of interventions.”
“I love rural health,” Katie says, “because it really is the epitome of the Nebraska and Midwest culture of, ‘Be there for your community.’ It’s built through small, community-led and community-supported institutions. And you’re part of a family when you’re there.”
Katie Donahoo
Howard County Medical Center