On June 5, the Bert Nash Center will launch its new and improved website, bertnash.org. The Center’s last website redesign was in 2015.
“Our focus this time around was to make the website more usable for people, regardless of their background in mental health, to make it easy for people to understand what information is available,” said Marissa Boyle, the Center’s Quality Improvement Manager.
The new website was designed by Ashley McCaskill Creative Consultant & Designer.
“We wanted to create better accessibility, allowing folks to access the vital information they are seeking with ease of use,” said Emily Farley, the Center’s Community Engagement Director. “We believe in empowering visitors with multiple pathways to access information, and our redesigned website offers a user-friendly experience, accommodating diverse needs and preferences."
Work on the new website began in March 2022. There may be connectivity issues on Sunday, June 4, as the site transitions to a new hosting platform.
“Just like our mission, which includes responding to evolving needs, our website needed to evolve with the Center,” Farley said. “We are no longer the same Bert Nash Center that we were in 2015.”
Just in the past year, the Center became a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, (CCBHC) received a three-year accreditation of excellence from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), activated the new mobile response, and assumed operation of the new Treatment and Recovery Center of Douglas County.
Highlights of the new website include what the Center is doing around equity and inclusion, the client handbook, how to learn about career opportunities, the different ways to donate and volunteer, as well making it easier to access and navigate information about how to start services. The Center’s strategic plan and goal outcomes are also featured on the website.
“A component of CCBHC certification and CARF accreditation is being really open and transparent about our goals,” Boyle said. “And to make sure that information is easily accessible.”
With the new website, clients can continue to pay bills online and the Center will be incorporating a patient portal that clients can utilize.
There is also a new page on the website dedicated to crisis care, which includes information about the Treatment and Recovery Center, the mobile response team, and other community crisis services.
“The website is like the front door to Bert Nash, and we needed that front door updated,” Farley said.
To create content for the new website, staff focus groups, from clinical to front desk to admissions, provided input, as did clients and community partners.
The result was expanded information and easier ways to access that information.
“The new site provides multiple avenues for our community to learn about mental health, what we are doing to address the needs, and at the same time, for the community to give us feedback, so we can continue to improve,” Farley said.
Community members will have an opportunity to provide feedback at the Center’s Community Education & Feedback Fair on June 13 at the Lawrence Public Library. There will be two two-hour sessions: 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Link to event: bit.ly/3M9tb1V