Sioux Center, Iowa — A new provider at Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center is bridging the gap between mental and physical health.
Mike Inman will work toward that goal by serving as a behavioral health consultant at Promise in a contract with Spencer-based Seasons Center for Behavioral Health.
Promise was awarded a $250,000 grant for mental health treatment and service expansion in November from the Health and Human Services Administration. Inman will be a key cog in the implementation of that grant by working directly with Promise’s health providers to increase patients’ access to behavioral health services in an effort to better integrate primary care and behavioral health services.
He started in the position on Monday, February 16.
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“The goal of my position is to promote increased access to behavioral health services and successful implementation of a fully integrated primary care and behavioral health services model of care,” Inman said. “When patients have greater access to mental health services and wellness services, it has been shown that they live fuller lives and avoid health crises, which can be catastrophic financially.”
Inman grew up in Sioux City and graduated from Sioux City North High School in 1979. He earned bachelor’s degrees in history and religion from the University of Iowa in 1984, a master’s degree in religious studies from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, KS, in 1991, and a doctorate degree in philosophical theology from Duquesne University in 1997.
His career background includes serving as an adjunct professor at Duquesne and Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City, 1994-99, and as a chaplain and bereavement coordinator at Hospice of Siouxland in Sioux City, 1999-2010. He worked most recently as a clinical therapist at Siouxland Mental Health Center in Sioux City after completing a master’s degree in social work from the University of Iowa in May.
Inman is excited for his new role.
“I was impressed with the professionalism and the openness to creativity and growth that Promise and Seasons exhibited, and I wanted to get back to working in a collaborative environment,” he said. “This job sounded like an interesting adventure.”
He will work directly with Promise’s primary care providers to assist with mental health diagnoses, screening tools and treatment options and to promote the benefits of services that Seasons’ behavioral health therapists provide on site at Promise.
“It seems to me this model of care is on the cutting edge of where health care needs to go, so I would hope to be a spokesperson for Seasons and Promise in the years ahead,” Inman said. Inman said the term behavioral health describes “the more holistic approach to mental health,” including preventive therapies for substance abuse and wellness and traditional psychological interventions.
“There is an old saying, ‘A cheerful heart is medicine to the bones.’ This sums up my attitude
toward providing mental health in a clinic setting,” he said.
Inman and his wife, Cindy, and daughter, Jessi, live in Kingsley. He enjoys participating in sports and exercise, particularly tennis; traveling; reading; and spending time at his daughter’s many events.
Promise Community Health Center, headquartered in Sioux Center, is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in the far northwest corner of Iowa. To learn more, check out the website www.promisechc.org.
