Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Columbia Memorial Health has announced a new partnership with aptihealth, a telehealth provider that uses technology to integrate physical and behavioral health care services. With the agreement, CMH patients will now have immediate access to virtual mental health care. The partnership will allow patients to remotely access behavioral-health services integrated with the patient’s current physical health care using aptihealth’s platform. CMH Chief Operating Officer Dorothy Urschel said in a statement, “This partnership with aptihealth will allow CMH to better meet the demand and help more patients improve their mental health through a truly integrated and coordinated service model that is easily accessible through smartphones and other common electronic devices.” The need for mental health services increased during the pandemic, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between August 2020 and February 2021, the percentage of adults experiencing symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder increased to 41.5 percent, according to the report. The number of people with unmet behavioral health care needs nationwide increased by 21.3 percent during the same period of time. aptihealth CEO Dan Pickett said, “...This partnership expands our mission of patient-first care and now makes aptihealth accessible through primary care providers across the Capital Region, from the North Country to the Hudson Valley.” The new partnership will have no impact on the cost for patients or access to existing in-person services, CMH spokesperson Bill Van Slyke said. The hospital offered telehealth services to patients during the pandemic, which was widely used, he added. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.