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McKenzie Robinson | SBJ

2021 Health Care Champions Administrator: Shawn Sando

Burrell Medical Group

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After more than two years as Burrell Behavioral Health’s executive vice president of programs, Shawn Sando was newly tapped as president of Burrell Medical Group, which encompasses Burrell’s psychiatry, nursing, pharmacy and integrated settings programs.

Sando said he counts the establishment of the Behavioral Crisis Center as one of the proudest achievements in his career. In a Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Assessment funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health and released in 2019, over half of the contributing stakeholders agreed that crisis services were among the most important needs in Greene County. Sando got to work with Burrell’s leadership, operations and program teams to develop a resource to address the need.

The BCC, which opened in May 2020, is a community collaboration among Burrell, the Greene County Commission, CoxHealth, Mercy Springfield Communities, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, the Springfield Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

“The BCC is southwest Missouri’s first walk-in, 24/7 facilities for crisis needs and is intended as a more effective destination than local emergency departments to address the care gap for crisis services,” Sando says.

In the BCC’s first year of operations, 1,800 individuals received care, including long-term or acute stabilization for mental health or addiction disorders, and 26% of those were referred or diverted from emergency departments. Burrell officials estimate that the BCC saved the community at least $4.4 million in its first year of operations.

To combat a rise in drug-induced deaths, Sando also has worked to expand access to medication-assisted treatment for over 2,000 people, a 200% increase in care.

“There is significant evidence to support FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid addiction,” Sando says. “These medications, in conjunction with counseling, increase the likelihood that a person will remain in treatment.”

He added that medications are associated with a lower risk of overdose mortality, reduced risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus transmission, reduced criminal justice involvement and a greater likelihood of employment.

Sando also has gone to work on the problem of depression in the community. The community assessment found depression rates in Greene County to be 36.7% higher than the U.S. average.

“To help address the growing needs of people experiencing depression in our community, I collaborated with Burrell’s medical team to expand transcranial magnetic stimulation interventions in the Springfield area,” Sando says.

TMS is a noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. According to Sando, studies indicate an 83% reduction in depression symptoms after two weeks and a 68% remission rate after 12 months. “Based on our patient success with TMS interventions, we are planning to expand access again in 2022,” he says.

While Sando said he is proud to have contributed to improvements in mental health in the community, he noted that accolades for his work give him a chance to recognize the accomplishments of his entire team.

“My success is a direct result of the support and encouragement I receive on an ongoing basis to lead courageously,” he says.

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