Report addresses state’s behavioral health workforce crisis
Published 4:24 pm Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Local CBH official took part
After eight months of monthly general meetings and biweekly subcommittee gatherings, the Behavioral Health Talent Council’s final report is published.
In a Friday press release, Governor Tina Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson, who chaired the council, announced the release of the report, which outlines strategies to address what they call “Oregon’s behavioral health workforce crisis.”
According to Elisabeth Shepard, public affairs and communications director for the governor, councilors were selected to reflect a wide range of sectors, cultural backgrounds, geographic regions, license types and stages of the workforce pipeline.
Clatsop County’s very own Shyra Merila-Simmons, executive director at Clatsop Behavioral Health (CBH), sat on the 22-member council and worked on the recruitment and retention subcommittee. She said a conversation she’d had with the First Lady and the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff led the way to her joining the council.
Merila-Simmons said she was able to provide insight on the unique challenges facing the rural behavioral healthcare workforce, including limited housing for providers and public transportation for clients. Additionally, she said that a lack of diversity in the workforce makes it difficult to reach certain populations who could benefit from their services.
Despite these challenges, she said CBH is performing above expectations. When the First Lady toured a couple of CBH clinics and the CBH 24/7 psychiatric residential facility, Merila-Simmons said Kotek Wilson was “super impressed.”
“I think one of the reasons that I was probably asked is because our retention rate at CBH, in comparison to other community mental health programs across the state, is actually pretty good,” Merila-Simmons said. That’s not to say that CBH doesn’t struggle with its own employee turnover, but Merila-Simmons said she shared with the council about various CBH policies that appear to reduce the rate.
For example, CBH staff members operate on a four-day work week and receive extensive benefits packages, which Merila-Simmons said help improve work-life balance. “You can’t help people if you’re not healthy and rested and restored,” she said. Merila-Simmons also said she funnels any additional funding for the behavioral health system straight to her employees whenever possible.
Merila-Simmons said the best strategy to bolster the behavioral health workforce is to invest more financially into the publicly-funded system, but the current economic climate does not allow much wiggle room.
Beyond monetary contributions, Merila-Simmons favors strategies to improve two other aspects of behavioral health: the first, oversight and administrative parity between behavioral health providers and other health providers; and the second, amplifying the perceived value of community mental health services.
She said behavioral healthcare providers are uniquely overburdened with reporting and paperwork requirements and harsher scrutiny compared to other healthcare workers, which contribute to higher burnout rates.
Additionally, Merila-Simmons expressed frustration with undervalued community mental health providers, who often treat the most acute, complex populations. In the medical field, she said, the doctors who see the sickest patients are paid more than their less specialized counterparts.
Merila-Simmons indicated she would like to see her community behavioral health colleagues similarly compensated for their high-stress work. “The payment model needs to be flipped on its head,” she said.
These strategies are among the 74 published by the council aimed at expanding the workforce, streamlining licensing and credentialing, and improving recruitment and retention across Oregon’s behavioral health systems.
In response to some of the council’s recommendations, Governor Kotek filed HB 4083 on February 2. The bill passed in the House and was slated for its third reading in the Senate on Wednesday and if it passes, will go to the Governor’s desk.
“Providers were clear that they need streamlined credentialing, reduced administrative burden, and expanded access to supervision so they can spend less time navigating bureaucracy and more time delivering high-quality care,” said Shepard.
Governor Kotek will continue to review the council’s recommendations and seek out implementation considerations from state agencies to determine how best to move forward with executive action, legislation or agency directives.
Shepard said the Governor’s office will update the council of the review’s outcome and may consult them as needed moving forward. “The first implementation next steps will be announced in spring of 2026,” she said.