Skip to main content

Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration Conference

2024 Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration Conference a Smashing Success

The 2024 conference was held on Saturday, July 27, 2024 in the Shinn Event Center on the Lipscomb University Campus and focused on Team-Based Care.

The featured program presenters were:

  • Karen Winkfield, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, Meharry Vanderbilt Alliance
  • Wendy Bradley, LPC-MHSP, CAADC, CPHQ, Director of Behavioral Health Integration at TMF Health Quality Institute
  • Chelsia Harris, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, Executive Director, Nursing at Lipscomb University

The conference was co-sponsored with Meharry Medical College and offered CE credit for MDs, counselors, marriage and family therapists and social workers. 

Headshot of Karen Winkfield

Karen Winkfield, M.D., Ph.D.

Executive Director, MeHarry Vanderbilt Alliance

Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD is the Executive Director of the MeharryVanderbilt Alliance, and the former director of the Office of Cancer Health Equity and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center. Winkfield specializes in the use of radiation therapy in the treatment of hematologic malignancies (lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, bone marrow transplantation) and breast cancer. She received her MD and PhD degrees at Duke University through participation in the Medical Scientist Training Program sponsored by the NIH and completed her training in the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program. She is a national expert in community engagement. Her research is focused on the design and implementation of programming to reduce sociocultural and economic barriers that contribute to disparate health outcomes for racial/ethnic minorities and underserved populations. Her goal is to empower the community with knowledge and encourage policymakers to invest in initiatives designed to eliminate inequities in the healthcare delivery system. In 2021, Dr. Winkfield was appointed by President Biden to the National Cancer Advisory Board.

 

Headshot of Wendy Bradley


Wendy Bradley, LPC-MHSP, CAADC, CPHQ

Director of Behavioral Health Integration at TMF Health Quality Institute

Wendy D. Bradley, LPC-MHSP, CAADC, CPHQ is Director of Behavioral Health Integration at TMF Health Quality Institute. She is currently responsible for learning system guidance, quality improvement consultation and staff training for mental health, chronic pain and substance use issues within value-based models for a variety of hospital and primary care clinics located in urban, suburban and rural areas across the country. Prior to joining TMF, she spent over thirteen years implementing and expanding behavioral health integration programs with Ampersand Health and Southcentral Foundation (SCF) in Anchorage, Alaska. Outcomes for the programs garnered national attention. Her experience includes the oversight and implementation of behavior health integration, patient and caregiver engagement, team-based care, care coordination, managing high risk patients and community engagement approaches to address social needs. Locally, she provides clinical support in the Connectus Health FQHC. She serves as faculty for the Institute of Healthcare Improvement for the topic of Behavioral Health Integration. Wendy holds a master’s degree in counseling from Webster University and two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Hawaii.

 

Headshot of Chelsia Harris

Chelsia Harris, DNP

Executive Director, Nursing at Lipscomb University

Chelsia Harris, DNP, RN, FNP-BC earned her bachelor of science in nursing degree from Arkansas Tech University in 2004, her master of science in nursing degree as a family nurse practitioner from Vanderbilt University in 2008; and her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with an emphasis in Educational Leadership from Case Western Reserve University in 2015. Her clinical experience includes practice in medical-surgical acute care, outpatient cardiology, preventive health, primary family practice, and occupational and home health.

Prior to joining Lipscomb University as an associate professor and the Associate Director of Nursing for Degree Development in 2017, she taught for eight years as an associate professor of nursing in a baccalaureate program at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri. Harris has spoken locally, regionally, and nationally to a variety of healthcare audiences. Her publications include topics such as physician-assisted suicide, compassion fatigue, advanced practice nursing, and nursing education, as well as her children's book Hannah Visits Nana in the Nursing Home (Christian Faith Publishing). Her research includes the exploration of compassion fatigue and daily spiritual experience among nursing assistants working in long-term care. Harris believes that nursing is a calling from God. She is passionate about the nursing profession, serving people, and ensuring that everyone receives high-quality compassionate care. This passion is evident throughout her book, "Created & Called: A Journey to and through Nursing" (New Leaf Press). Harris also serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Christian Nursing and the American Nurses’ Association publication American Nurse Today.

 

Approved Continuing Education Provider Logo

Lipscomb University, Department of Psychology, Counseling and Family Science has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 4585.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Lipscomb University, Department of Psychology, Counseling and Family Science is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

2023 Conference - The Present and Future of Integrated Primary Care

The Lipscomb Initiative for Behavioral Health Integration (LIBHI) hosted the 2023 Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration Conference on June 7th-8th. The conference featured international integration expert Dr. Alex Blount. 

Dr. Blount, is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he founded the Center for Integrated Primary Care. He is President of Integrated Primary Care, Inc., a firm that provides training and consultation in behavioral health integration, patient-centered care, and team telemedicine. His books include Integrated Primary Care: The Future of Medical and Mental Health Collaboration (1998, Norton) and Patient-Centered Primary Care (2019, Springer).

Additional speakers included:

  • Cynthia Jackson, Ph.D., Psychologist at Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center
  • Laura Schwent Shultz, Psy.D., ABPP, Director of Behavioral Health at Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare
  • Abigail Spilburg, former Lipscomb CMHC student

Session slides and video recordings posted below!

Alexander Blount headshot

Alexander Blount, Ed.D

Alexander Blount, EdD, is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he founded the Center for Integrated Primary Care. His online training program in Primary Care Behavioral Health at the Center has trained over 4000 clinicians around the country and abroad. His books include Integrated Primary Care: The Future of Medical and Mental Health Collaboration (1998, Norton) and Patient-Centered Primary Care (2019, Springer). He is past Editor of Families, Systems and Health, the Journal of Collaborative Healthcare, and past President of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA). He is a member and Past Chair of the AHRQ National Integration Academy Council. He is President of Integrated Primary Care, Inc., a firm that provides training and consultation in behavioral health integration, patient-centered care, and team telemedicine. He currently offers a Certificate Program in Primary Care Behavioral Health Leadership through the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association. His articles can be accessed at www.IntegratedPrimaryCare.com.

 

Session titles included:

  • Joy in Practice
  • Healthcare Provider Wellness: Provider and Clinician Perspectives
  • Straight from the Horses' Mouth: Surveying Medical Providers' Satisfaction
  • The Engaged Employee: Cultivating a Context of High Performance
  • Fostering Belonging, Dignity and Justice in the Workplace

2023 Conference

Past Conferences