The Hospital General de Castañer (HGC) and its polyclinics in Adjuntas and Jayuya received the Behavioral Health Integration Distinction from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a national recognition for primary care organizations that have developed the capacity to integrate behavioral health into patients’ medical care. It comes as the number of people receiving mental health services in Puerto Rico rises.
The distinction is part of NCQA’s Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program and recognizes processes, tools and protocols to identify and manage mental health, substance use and other behavioral needs within primary care. HGC chief executive officer Giovanni E. Ortiz Pagán said primary care is often the main entry point to the health system in these communities and the recognition validates the hospital’s work toward more comprehensive care.
Data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) show Section 330 health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers) in Puerto Rico served 73,423 mental health patients in 2025, the highest in at least five years and 52% above 2021. Of more than 500,000 people served by these centers in 2025, 14.45% had access to mental health services, versus 9.4% nationally.
NCQA’s program has 18 criteria across four competencies, and recognized organizations must file annual reports to keep the distinction. HGC, a nonprofit founded in 1942, serves rural mountain communities from Castañer and clinics in Adjuntas and Jayuya.