New Oregon Legislation Expands Rural Mental Health Services, With EOU Graduates Ready to Answer the Call

New Oregon Legislation Expands Rural Mental Health Services, With EOU Graduates Ready to Answer the Call

SALEM, Ore. - In a move that signals a strong bipartisan commitment to address Oregon's ongoing behavioral health crisis, Governor Tina Kotek signed four major mental health and substance use-related bills into law today while visiting Fora Health in Portland. The new legislation aims to expand treatment capacity, support the behavioral health workforce, and prevent addiction, particularly in underserved rural communities.

For recent Eastern Oregon University graduate Kate Gekeler, who attended the bill signing in Salem, the day was both professional and deeply personal.

"I think it was awesome," Gekeler said. "I'm excited to represent our community. This is important to our community, where mental health services are not always available."

Gekeler was among the first to graduate from EOU's Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program in June 2025, a program developed specifically to train professionals for work in rural communities. Her presence underscored the connection between state policy and local impact.

"I want to thank Governor Kotek and the Oregon legislature for supporting the behavioral health workforce and higher education opportunities like the EOU counseling program," Gekeler said during the event. "I wouldn't be a behavioral health provider without state tuition assistance, one piece of the legislation being signed today."

Legislation Highlights

The four bills signed into law include:

• House Bill 2059: Allocates $65 million to construct new residential treatment facilities.
  
• House Bill 2024: Provides more than $5 million to the Oregon Health Authority to strengthen the behavioral health workforce and improve worker safety.
  
• House Bill 2005: Adjusts civil commitment laws to streamline involuntary treatment for those deemed a danger to themselves or others.
  
• House Bill 3321: Directs the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission to develop a comprehensive prevention strategy.
  

"These bills help fulfill that objective by giving providers more tools to intervene when someone is in crisis," Kotek said. "They support the social workers and counselors who do the work, build a strategy to prevent addiction among youth, and continue to increase the number of treatment beds available across the state."

The governor emphasized the need to expand the behavioral health workforce in rural Oregon, where access to care remains limited. According to the Oregon Health Authority, nearly every county in the state is considered a mental health professional shortage area.

Answering the Call from Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon University's CMHC program was launched in 2023 in direct response to these shortages. With a hybrid delivery model combining online coursework and in-person residencies, the program enables working adults, many of whom are already embedded in rural communities, to pursue advanced degrees without relocating.

"The program was designed to help people who want to work in mental health, especially in small towns where help is needed the most," said Program Director Dr. Hope Schuermann.

For Gekeler, the support provided through the program and state funding was essential.

"Partway through my degree, my daughter suddenly needed a new wheelchair," she said. "Despite having insurance, the co-pay was high. Without the scholarship and tuition support I received, I would have had to choose between continuing my education and paying for my daughter's essential medical equipment. I'm incredibly grateful I didn't have to make that choice."

Today, Gekeler works as a school-based mental health therapist in Union County, serving students at Greenwood Elementary and Island City School. During the summer, she continues her work through the Center for Human Development, seeing clients in the community.

She's not alone. Several members of her cohort are now employed in mental health roles across eastern Oregon, including Pendleton and La Grande.

"Hiring students who have completed coursework and are eager to learn on the job is one way agencies are helping to supplement the workforce and meet growing community needs," Gekeler said.

Funding Brings Hope-and Capacity

With the passage of HB 2024 and HB 2059, providers like CHD now have access to new funding to build workforce pipelines and expand programming, especially important in regions where funding constraints have limited services.

"These bills give mental health providers some freedom to fund previously unfunded programs that are so desperately needed in eastern Oregon," Gekeler noted. "They give hope to providers like me, who now see a future in this field, and to every client who would've otherwise been stuck on a dangerously long waiting list."

Eastern Oregon University President Kelly Ryan, Ph.D., said the program's early success shows what's possible when higher education aligns with the needs of the state.

"We've added more classes to meet the demand and are proud of how the program is helping our communities," Ryan said. "These graduates are making a difference, right now, right here."

As Oregon continues to grapple with a shortage of qualified mental health professionals, especially outside of metro areas, the combined force of new legislation and local training programs like EOU's CMHC offers a hopeful way forward.

"When we invest in people-students, parents, future providers-we also invest in the communities they'll serve," Gekeler said.For more on EOU's Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, visit: https://www.eou.edu/news-press/graduating-to-serve-eous-first-cmhc-cohort-answers-rural-oregons-mental-health-needs/