CLAREMONT — West Central Behavioral Health has purchased two properties on Broad Street to serve as the nonprofit’s flagship location.
The organization bought the two lots, 203-205 and 209 Broad Street, for $950,000 on July 15. The purchase was financed by a mortgage through Claremont Savings Bank and a down payment from West Central’s savings. The lots sit across the street from Monadnock Park.
“Our clients and the people in our communities are having a hard time finding providers, so we want to make sure that we are well situated in Claremont, and in all of our other locations, to be able to meet the needs of the community,” Lori Shibinette, West Central’s CEO, said in a phone interview.
With the purchase, the organization seeks to consolidate its Claremont locations and expand its services.
The Lebanon-based organization offers outpatient, case management, continuing care, emergency and residential services to more than 1,700 individuals with mental and behavioral health disorders, according to the organization’s website.
West Central served 843 clients in Sullivan County in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, Shibinette wrote in an email.
In addition to offering services in Lebanon and Newport, West Central currently operates two locations in Claremont: an adult service program on West Pleasant Street and a children’s service program on Dunning Street.
West Central’s current Claremont buildings have issues with heat and air conditioning, and a general lack of space.
The organization plans to consolidate those locations, in addition to a mobile crisis unit currently in Newport, into the Broad Street properties. West Central’s administrative center, which is currently in Lebanon, also is slated to move to the new property.
The long-term plan is to put the administrative offices in the 203 property, which was formerly a two-family residence.
The 209 address, formerly a lodge for the fraternal and service organization Moose International, will house clinical services — child, teen, adult and mobile crisis. West Central purchased both from Claremont-based contractor Chris Thompson, who left 209 vacant and rented 203-205 to a single family.
“Both properties give us great flexibility to build out for the future and meet all our needs,” Todd French, director of facilities, said in a phone interview.
West Central aims to expand its services not only to those in severe need, but “all of the community regardless of how serious their mental illness is,” Shibinette said. These services include therapy, psychiatric care, peer-support programs, and exercise and nutrition programs — which are currently offered, but are limited by workforce shortages that make them accessible only to severe cases.
The nonprofit was able to make the purchase through its certification by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, or DHHS, as a “New Hampshire State Certified Community Behavioral Health Center,” or CCBHC. The certification is a pilot program that invests more federal and state funds into “high-quality care for people with any mental health or substance use disorder,” according to the DHHS website.
As opposed to getting paid by service provided, the certification’s payment model reimburses West Central for projected costs — crucial for “safety net providers,” Shibinette said, which serve populations otherwise unable to pay.
The funding is “expected to support expanded staffing and sustain a higher level of quality,” according to DHHS’s website.
West Central expects the CCBHC program to increase its revenue by approximately 30% compared to the fiscal year ending on July 30, which was around $7 million, Shibinette, a former DHHS commissioner, wrote in an email.
This increase in revenue is expected to be the primary source of funding for the project, coming from state and federal Medicaid dollars, Shibinette said. The certification also has recently enabled West Central to bring up the wages of all clinical staff, Shibinette said.
With the new property, West Central plans to expand its staffing and services, Shibinette said. West Central currently has 115 total employees, with many working across locations, and plans to add 25% to 30% more to expand its services, Shibinette said.
For example, West Central plans to start holding regular open office hours, where anyone can walk in and get service without a pre-scheduled appointment. Officials also plan to work with Keady Family Practice and Dartmouth Health to bring in primary care providers.
Additionally, West Central aims to expand its mobile crisis unit, which currently operates from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., to 24/7.
The nonprofit also plans to educate and train more peer-support workers from the community, in addition to more interns and residents from academic institutions such as the Geisel School of Medicine and Colby-Sawyer.
“Our goal is to be the training center for anybody in the Upper Valley that wants to do community behavioral health,” Shibinette said. “So, we need a space conducive for that.”
Along with the nine other certified community mental health centers in New Hampshire, West Central is contracted by the state of New Hampshire “to provide care to the most vulnerable populations,” Shibinette said.
West Central largely serves people without access to commercial insurance or most other health care plans. Their clients are largely on Medicaid — often lower-income, unhoused and suffering from dual diagnoses with substance abuse.
“Over 80% of all the people we serve are on Medicaid,” Shibinette said.
As a result, Medicaid cuts and restrictions will directly impact the work of West Central. The current project is primarily funded by the Medicaid dollars of the CCBHC certification program.
“We’re a small agency, so even small changes in our revenue sources, our client demographic, our ability to get paid through Medicaid or additional administrative burden has a significant impact on our bottom line,” she said. “And the less money we have, the less people we can serve.”
However, Shibinette said she feels “secure” about West Central’s Medicaid funding for the next couple of years. And even though there’s uncertainty beyond that, the behavioral health care provider can’t wait on the state and federal government to take action.
“The landscape of health care is always changing,” Shibinette said. “If we wait for Medicaid policy to work with our current needs, we’ll be constantly behind.”
The organization plans to continue to provide all current programs and services — including telehealth and community outreach — during the construction process.
West Central expects to bring in an architect in the next 30 days to start the design and the pricing of the new spaces, with the aim of beginning renovations by Jan. 1, 2026, Shibinette said.
To help fund the renovation of the space, the organization plans to launch a capital campaign in the next year, Shibinette wrote in a newsletter this summer.
Lukas Dunford can be reached at ldunford@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.
