A Pioneering Partnership in Rural Psychiatric Care

When a rural hospital decided to lead

In 2016–2017, La Paz Regional Hospital pursued an expansion of behavioral-health services. According to Hughes Mohlie, PMHNP, director of MoodClinics, hospital leadership obtained board support for a behavioral-health department and selected MoodClinics to help initiate psychiatric services. The hospital's board decision and the original contract have not yet been independently located.

Kevin Brown became chief executive officer of La Paz Regional Hospital in January 2017. His background included information technology and technical project management—an especially relevant perspective for a rural hospital exploring remote specialty care. Becker’s Hospital Review documented his appointment.

The partnership served patients through the Quartzsite clinic and River Health Clinic in Parker. The hospital independently lists these facilities in its facilities directory.

Telepsychiatry before it was familiar

Years before the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telehealth adoption, La Paz Regional Hospital was willing to explore remote psychiatric services for geographically dispersed patients. MoodClinics began with psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, medication management, and some psychotherapy; Mohlie recalls that the wider behavioral-health offering later expanded.

Credit for the opportunity belongs in significant part to the hospital and its leadership. In Mohlie’s recollection, Brown relieved the psychiatric team of much of the administrative coordination, enabling clinicians to focus on treatment. Mohlie remembers Brown's message in essence as: “Just do your job. We’ll take care of the rest.” This is a recollected remark, not a verified transcript.

Care built around the patient's voice

“It was a golden moment in the history of MoodClinics,” Mohlie recalls. “We were able to treat each patient as if they were a member of our own family.”

At the end of visits, clinicians routinely invited feedback: “Are you satisfied with your treatment?” “What could we do to make it better?” “Is there anything else we can do for you?” These questions reflected a belief that patients should understand their diagnosis, participate in treatment goals, and feel free to discuss concerns.

Mohlie recalls receiving no patient complaints during the practice's initial period of exclusive service. He also remembers a Quartzsite clinic manager describing unusually high satisfaction and no complaints known to her. Her name and contemporaneous records have not yet been recovered; this is presented as Mohlie’s recollection, not a verified survey or audited performance measure.

Medication access required teamwork

In rural communities, a prescription alone does not ensure access to treatment. Mohlie recalls close cooperation with the local Happy Valley Pharmacy team to clarify orders, resolve prior authorizations, and reduce delays. For patients unable to travel readily to larger towns, that coordination mattered. The pharmacy’s historical role is described here from the practice's firsthand account and has not yet been independently documented.

Continuity for winter visitors

La Paz County's seasonal visitors, often called snowbirds, were another meaningful part of the patient population. Mohlie recalls that many returned for care in successive winters and that MoodClinics coordinated with their out-of-state psychiatric providers when they returned home. No reliable historical count of seasonal patients is currently available.

A notable countywide change, 2017–2019

Arizona Department of Health Services data show that La Paz County's crude suicide mortality rate declined from 60.2 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2017 to 41.1 in 2018 and 36.2 in 2019—a decrease of approximately 39.9% from 2017 to 2019.

The timing overlaps with the early MoodClinics–hospital partnership. It is a noteworthy public-health trend, but it does not demonstrate that MoodClinics caused the decline. Suicide mortality has multiple determinants, and annual rates can fluctuate substantially in a county with a small population. The original independently commissioned impact assessment described by Mohlie has not yet been recovered.

Source: Arizona Department of Health Services, suicide mortality rates by county, Table 3-8.

The legacy

The partnership brought together hospital leadership, psychiatric clinicians, clinic managers, and pharmacy staff to address a practical challenge: helping patients receive and continue psychiatric treatment close to home. It also shaped MoodClinics' continuing emphasis on accessible, understandable care and patient participation in treatment decisions.

Today, MoodClinics provides online psychiatric care for eligible adults throughout Arizona, including medication management and second opinions.

Sources and historical note

Independent sources document Kevin Brown's CEO appointment, the hospital's clinics, and the county suicide mortality trend. Accounts of the board approval, contractual selection, patient feedback, pharmacy coordination, and seasonal-patient continuity are attributed to Hughes Mohlie’s recollections pending corroborating records. No statement from Brown or the unnamed clinic manager is presented as an independently verified interview.

Becker's Hospital Review (2017) · La Paz Regional Hospital facilities · ADHS mortality table