1 Million Lives Impacted
For the past decade, Providence’s Well Being Trust has led efforts to address the mental health crisis in the United States.
Founded in 2016, Providence’s Well Being Trust was created to move beyond isolated programs and instead build a lasting ecosystem of care: one that strengthens health care delivery, supports caregivers (the health care workforce), and partners with communities to reach people where they are. Today, that vision is driving impact across Providence’s seven-state footprint and beyond, transforming how mental health care is delivered in health care systems, across communities, and throughout the health care workforce.
Explore the stories behind our decade of impact and learn more about the caregivers, community partners and national partners working to expand access to mental health care in the communities we serve.
Advancing depression care & improving outcomes for the leading cause of disability
Patients experience an 85% improvement in response to depression treatment
In 2025, Providence continued its steady, year-over-year progress in transforming depression care across its seven-state footprint.
Patients experienced an 85% improvement in response to depression treatment – a milestone that represents far more than a statistic. It reflects individuals reclaiming hope, families finding renewed stability, and communities strengthened by care that treats the whole person. Behind each improved outcome is a team of caregivers who listen deeply, respond with empathy, and deliver evidence-based treatment that meets patients where they are. Their dedication continues to shape a future where every person has access to the mental health support they deserve.
New & expanded mental health programs
Delivering lifesaving opioid use disorder treatment in the emergency department
Oregon faces a complex substance use crisis, underscoring the need for coordinated prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. To address this urgent need, Providence Portland Medical Center partnered with HealthShare of Oregon in 2025 to expand access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in emergency departments. Enhanced emergency department provider education and clearer treatment pathways now better equip clinicians to initiate timely, evidence-based care during critical moments.
Read more: Expanding access to lifesaving opioid use disorder treatment in the ED – Well Being Trust
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s updated substance use treatment and recovery space
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett relocated its Substance Use Treatment and Recovery program to an updated space on its Pacific Campus (916 Pacific Ave, Everett, Washington), strengthening the medical center’s ability to care for patients seeking treatment and recovery services in Snohomish County.
The updated space helps expand access to compassionate, specialized care for people recovering from alcohol, opioid and other substance use disorders serving nearly 1,200 people each year. It also offers outpatient services, including an intensive outpatient program, helping nearly 750 patients each year continue recovery after discharge.
The space features:
- Private rooms and a more serene and healing setting for treatment and recovery.
- Updated safety features and expanded multi-use space that supports highly specialized care.
Improving caregiver mental health and well-being
The mental health and well-being of our caregivers (healthcare workers) is not just a priority—it is a precondition for delivering excellence in health care. Prior to the pandemic, depression and anxiety were the leading health care concerns among frontline workers, and that has only worsened since. Caring for our caregivers is critical to our mission, and we will continue to create a positive work culture and support our caregivers’ well-being with programs, tools and resources supporting their mind, body and spirit.
Read highlights from Providence’s No One Cares Alone mental health and well-being program below.
Nearly 30 percent of caregivers have engaged with No One Cares Alone well-being programs since its launch in 2021
Providence’s No One Cares Alone (NOCA) well-being program provides caregivers with resources and support, meeting them wherever they are on their wellness journey.
NOCA takes a public health approach to addressing mental health.
- Primary prevention – through educational resources, helps increase awareness and lower stigma around mental health conditions among caregivers.
- Secondary prevention – proactive outreach to provide support and also helps to identify and support those who may be at greater risk.
- Tertiary (skilled support) – is also available to address mental health concerns for caregivers and families who are acutely struggling.
Core Leader Outreach, a key component of this approach, focuses on supporting leaders. It also assists leaders who express interest in furthering the mental and spiritual wellness of their teams. Proactive outreach to leaders to schedule a check-in with in-house wellness consultants, made up of behavioral health providers and chaplains offers a supportive, safe space for leaders to speak about how they and their teams are doing, mention any pain points, and inquire about specific resources for their teams.
“Providence believes in the inherent dignity and worth of every caregiver: we all deserve care, deserve to be supported, deserve a healthy working environment. And, when we, as caregivers, take better care of ourselves and each other, we take better care of our patients.” — Brian Johnson, Chaplain and Wellness Consultant
“Providence believes in the inherent dignity and worth of every caregiver: we all deserve care, deserve to be supported, deserve a healthy working environment. And, when we, as caregivers, take better care of ourselves and each other, we take better care of our patients.” — Brian Johnson, Chaplain and Wellness ConsultantEnhancing clinician well-being through peer support
Since launching systemwide in 2025, the physician and APP peer-to-peer support program has quickly become a highly valued resource for clinicians. Feedback highlights its impact:
• 100% would use peer support again.
• 100% would recommend it to a colleague.
• 100% found the support helpful.
“Serving as a peer supporter allows me to offer colleagues a compassionate, understanding presence. It’s really about providing emotional support and helping clinicians process challenging experiences.
-Ben Ware, M.D., peer supporter & hospice; palliative care physician, Providence Portland Medical Center
TeleSpiritual Health: supporting the mind, body, and spirit
Providence’s TeleSpiritual Health program continues
to expand its reach and deepen its impact, providing
Providence caregivers and patients with timely access to compassionate, personalized spiritual support. Professionally trained chaplains provide confidential, respectful care designed to meet each person’s unique spiritual needs, whether grounded in a particular faith tradition or in a more personal, non-religious search for meaning and connection.
“This initiative was driven by the understanding that caregivers often face significant stress and emotional challenges in their roles, and providing accessible spiritual care could greatly enhance their well-being, sense of balance in life, and resilience.”
–Sherri Brewer, senior manager of executive operations Spiritual Health, Providence
Deepening community collaboration & expanding community-based partnerships
To further our commitment to transforming behavioral health care and expanding access, Providence’s Well Being Trust has partnered with 40-plus community organizations to support their efforts to increase sustainable access to quality mental health care and support and substance use disorder services.
Read highlights about community partnerships below.
Rose Haven’s Mental Health & Advocacy Program
Serving individuals throughout Portland, Oregon
Rose Haven’s Advocacy and Mental Health Program fosters belonging, coping skills, and accountability through a restorative justice model. Through the program, Rose Haven is utilizing mental health advocates to lead intake, exclusion, and re-entry conversations with the goal to reduce the number of incidents that lead to exclusions and ensure guests’ long-term success within its shelter.
“Through financial support of Rose Haven’s Advocacy and Mental Health Program, Providence expands access to timely, trauma-informed support that offers individuals the appropriate level of care while helping them foster belonging, manage conflict, and build life skills. Investing in trusted community-based organizations like Rose Haven allows Providence to support efforts that promote long-term health with the goal of achieving more equitable health outcomes for individuals and our community.” — Sonya Kauffman Smith, manager, community health, Oregon, Central Division
Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services (STARS)
Serving the Inland Northwest
Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services (STARS) partners with Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Providence Holy Family Hospital and interacts with clinical teams in the emergency department (ED) to provide intervention to patients presenting with behavioral health concerns and start a process of healing and recovery. Services provided by STARS provide appropriate treatment and placement for individuals with behavioral health needs and helps to ensure that ED beds are available for patients needing emergency care.
“Through the emergency department diversion program, STARS staff work with patients with substance use disorders who present to the ED to continue treatment at the STARS sobering unit where individuals receive comprehensive wrap-around services and support.”– Christina Kamkosi Chery, MBA, manager, Providence Community Health Investment Programs, Inland Northwest Washington
Youth Mental Health
When we support the mental health needs of our youth, we can change the course of their lives for the better. And when we do this for every child in need, we change the trajectory of the communities we serve.
Research has shown that schools play an important role in providing access to mental health services for children and teens. The effect on schools is mutually reinforcing: community resources deployed within schools support educational outcomes for students. Together, mental health services provided in the school environment indicate children and youth are healthier, experience less severe mental health related symptoms, have a decreased risk of substance use disorders, and have better socioeconomic outcomes which result in reduced health care costs for children, families, and the community.
Providence’s school-based services capitalize on these benefits. In collaboration with community partners, we evaluate schools using criteria including community demographics, students’ access to other forms of behavioral health care, and demonstrated commitment to successful integration from school leadership. With this connected approach, we provide students with tiers of mental health support (low- to high-intensity) depending on student risk factors.
Read highlights about our school-based community partnerships below.
In partnership with Providence, Work2BeWell, and Sounders FC, Providence’s Well Being Trust helped expand access to virtual mental health services for all 15,000 students in the Renton School District. During the 2024–25 school year, students participated in:
2,750 virtual therapy sessions, giving young people timely, confidential support when they needed it most. Additional outcomes included:- 85 percent of RSD schools used virtual health services in 2025.
- A 10 percent year-over-year increase in the number of students referred for support.
This partnership reflects Providence’s commitment to meeting young people where they are with accessible, stigma-free mental health care and support.
2,750 virtual therapy sessions, giving young people timely, confidential support when they needed it most. Additional outcomes included:
In 2022, Providence’s Well Being Trust partnered with Alaska to expand school-based mental health services
in school districts across the state, including in
Anchorage and Kodiak. This initiative addresses
mental health challenges through school-wide
support to the whole school community, early
interventions for at-risk students, and intensive interventions for students and their families
needing additional support. School-based clinicians work closely with school staff to create a safe environment in which students, caregivers, staff, and providers build caring relationships with one another.
During the first semester of the 2022-2023 school
year some of the services for students included:
- 381 encounters of individual student support and 115 individual therapy sessions.
- 119 encounters of family support and 25 family
therapy sessions. - 125 encounters of group student support.
- 39 crisis interventions.
Expanding access to youth mental health care where it’s needed most
Pediatric relational health unit at Covenant Children’s ensures patients in West Texas; eastern New Mexico have access to mental health services
In response to community feedback regarding insufficient pediatric mental health services in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, Providence’s Well Being Trust supported the opening of the region’s first pediatric mental health center. The center opened in 2023 and allows Covenant Children’s to better serve the needs of the pediatric population of Lubbock County and the surrounding region, while also supporting access to telehealth services for an expansive region including West Texas/the Panhandle Plains.
In 2025, the Covenant Children’s Relational Health Center marked a milestone worth celebrating — two years of expanding compassionate, comprehensive mental health support for young people and their families across West Texas and eastern New Mexico.
Since opening its doors in 2023, the center has provided care to:
- more than 25,000 children and adolescents
- delivering more than 167,000 encounters across a full spectrum of services
From outpatient counseling and intensive outpatient therapy to partial hospitalization and telehealth, the center ensures that youth can access the right level of support when and where they need it.
Movement building and mental health advocacy
Since 2016, Providence’s Well Being Trust has also helped shape mental health policy and practice nationally, working alongside partners and policymakers to build the infrastructure and to catalyze impactful funding in mental health, addiction, and well-being. Examples of our movement building and advocacy work include:
- Co-founded and invested in Inseparable, a mental health policy advocacy organization mobilizing resources to ensure an integrated care support system. Inseperable has led strategic campaigns that supported:
- Rural school telemental health programs in Washington state and an $18 million carve-out for youth mental health in the capital budget.
- $300 million dedicated fund for mental health in Montana. Additional mental health campaigns were launched in several states nationwide that focused on increasing youth mental health services in schools.
- Co-founded and invested in Mindful Philanthropy to bring more resources to the field, while focusing investments on those with the greatest potential for impact, including: direct services, capacity building, policy and advocacy, and research and innovation.
Since 2020, Mindful Philanthropy has built and engaged a network of 1,300 funders representing significant capacity for increased philanthropic investment in mental health and well-being. Mindful Philanthropy’s goal is to catalyze $35B in annual high-impact philanthropic mental health funding by 2035.
Partnering with The Kennedy Forum’s Alignment for Progress initiative working closely with leaders throughout the United States to reach the following goals by 2033: - 90% of the population is screened for mental health and substance use disorders.
- 90% who need it receive quality treatment.
- 90% manage symptoms and achieve recovery.
Pictured at right: Ali Santore, Chief Communication and External Affairs Officer at Providence; Patrick Kennedy, former U.S. Representative and founder of The Kennedy Forum, and Dr. Arpan Waghray, CEO, Providence’s Well Being Trust.
Partnering with California Mental Health and Wellness Initiative 2017-2019
Investments from 2017-2019 supported the California Mental Health and Wellness Initiative and focused on scalable solutions for communities. Key outcomes included:
- Launching six integrated behavioral health primary care integration programs based on the Collaborative Care Model expanding access to 300,000 adult primary care patients throughout Orange County and the High Desert region.
- The opening of Waterfront Recovery Services, Humboldt County’s first medical detoxification and residential treatment center. The center is meeting the needs of individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health illnesses. This 56-bed center expands access to care by providing:
- Medical detoxification
- Family & group counseling
- Trauma informed group and family recovery group therapy
- Transitional case management
Additional grants focused on increasing access to mental health care services for underserved populations and reducing stigma.Read more here:
- Providence St. Joseph Health and Well Being Trust Support Life-Changing Mental Health Initiatives Across California with $10 Million in Grants – Well Being Trust
- Private: Well Being Trust Announces Round Two Of California Grants, Providing $8.5 Million To Organizations To Improve Mental Health and Well-being – Well Being Trust
- Well Being Trust Announces Round Three Of California Grants, Providing $10.25 Million To 26 Initiatives To Improve Mental Health And Well-being – Well Being Trust
