CCH wins QLA Top Honor for Behavioral Health
Contra Costa Health (CCH) has been honored with the 2025 Quality Leaders Award (QLA) by the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) and the California Health Care Safey Net Institute (SNI).
CCH received the Top Honors award for our countywide initiative to improve behavioral health transitions from emergency departments to ongoing care.
Across Contra Costa, many residents experiencing mental health or substance use crises rely on emergency departments as their first and only connection to services. Often, those visits did not lead to follow-up treatment.
Staff across Behavioral Health, CCRMC, EMS, the Health Plan, Public Health, and hospital partners at Kaiser, Sutter and John Muir came together to change that.
The team built on existing strengths, including the County Access Line and CCRMC’s Substance Use Navigators, to create warm handoffs to services and support before the patients ever left the ED.
More than 70 ED physicians, nurses, case managers and social workers received training that helped hospitals better understand county services and how to connect patients to care. Partners also collaborated to refine workflows, strengthen communication and address challenges unique to each hospital system.
The impact has been significant:
- Mental health follow-up increased from 46% to 62%.
- Substance use follow-up increased from 27% to 46%.
- 87 people started buprenorphine after an overdose, with nearly one-third staying in care after 30 days.
- More than 300 people were directly connected to outpatient services.
What began at CCRMC is now a shared model spreading across hospital systems throughout the county.
The QLA recognition reflects the dedication of every staff member and partner working to build a stronger, more connected system of behavioral health care for our community.
The award was presented to CCH during CAPH and SNI’s annual conference on Dec. 4.
