Avera eCARE has announced a three-year, $7.8 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to build an on-call round-the-clock behavioral health team.

With a focus on services for people in crisis, the team will provide patients with access to timely, cost-effective behavioral health services out of Avera's eHelm virtual hub in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as treatment for patients in local emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric hospitals. Eventually, Avera plans to provide mobile support to first responders coming upon individuals in crisis and will hire and train registered nurses, social workers, psychiatric advanced practice providers, and psychiatrists to be part of the unit.

Services will be provided through proven telehealth technology, including high-resolution two-way audio and video and software data management platforms that interface with hospitals' electronic medical records. In addition, mobile crisis response services will be available through portable devices that can be taken to a crisis situation and connect a virtual crisis response team to the patient immediately.

"We are extremely grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for their ongoing partnership and support of innovative projects to reduce the disparities of healthcare access in rural areas," said Avera eCARE CEO Deanna Larson. "We are excited to see where this work will lead as we continue to deliver health care of the future today."