Building Hope Together: Huntsman Mental Health Institute Releases 2023 Annual Report

Comprehensive patient care:

• Our 1,500 employees cared for more than 16,000 patients, 96% of whom were based in Utah. Those patients made 72,500 visits to Huntsman Mental Health Institute in 2023.
• Partnered with state and behavioral health stakeholders to conduct statewide needs assessment and collaborated on Utah’s Behavioral Health Master Plan.
• Expanded and refined specialty care at the Treatment-Resistant Mood Disorder clinic and refined electroconvulsive therapy to provide an improved quality of life for those struggling with bipolar disorder.
• Expanded therapies for medication-resistant mental health conditions through innovative programs such as Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy at the Park City clinic.

Leading practices in crisis care:

• More than 1,000,000 SafeUT chat messages were facilitated for K-12 and higher education students, teachers, and staff, and 536 lifesaving interventions were made directly through the SafeUT app.
• The Receiving Center began and completed an expansion to double capacity to serve more people in crisis, giving them an alternative to the emergency room and building a pathway to the 2025 opening of the Kem and Carolyn Gardner Mental Health Crisis Care Center.
• Mental Health First Responders (MH1) served 221 University of Utah students in crisis, resulting in 93% of respondents diverted from the emergency room and preventing 86% of respondents from law enforcement involvement.

Bold research collaborations:

• Built and continued 32 national and international research collaborations and celebrated national papers published on Genetics of Suicide Study and Overthinking Teens Rumination-Focused DBT Study.
• Huntsman Mental Health Institute hosted the inaugural Mental Health, Brain, and Behavioral Science Research Day bringing together people from across the University of Utah campus to share their work and ideas.
• Broke ground on the new Mental Health Translational Research Building.

Breaking mental health stigma and elevating the importance of mental health:

• Launched a national anti-stigma campaign in collaboration with the Ad Council.
• Pursued legislative support for mental health initiatives to help the state of Utah, including expansion of the crisis care continuum with HB 71, titled “Behavioral Health Crisis Response Commission Amendments.”
• Expanded the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation’s ability to support donor giving to support many aspects of mental health care.

Building the future of mental health care:

• Launched a new six-week music therapy internship program to increase the number of certified music therapists in Utah.
• Expanded residency opportunities in general psychiatry to 14 places per year, including rural Idaho, and dedicated research tracks.
• Increased general psychiatry residents by 22% over two years and psychiatry program applicants increased 42% over two years.