Demand for behavioral health care is rising across Tampa Bay as systems strain under fragmented funding, siloed services and limited capacity.
Last summer, two of the region’s largest nonprofit providers chose redesign over expansion.
As of July 1, 2025, Gracepoint Wellness and Cove Behavioral Health merged to form Ibis Healthcare.
The nonprofit system now serves more than 50,000 children and adults each year across mental health, substance use treatment, primary care, housing and crisis response.
“The beautiful thing about this merger is that there really wasn’t duplication,” said Susan Morgan, chief development and communications officer. “It doesn’t matter which door you enter. You can receive services through one system of care.”
Built to fit together
Before the merger, Gracepoint and Cove each served roughly 25,000 people annually.
Gracepoint focused on mental health services, including Hillsborough County’s designated behavioral health emergency room, inpatient hospitalization, outpatient therapy and crisis stabilization.
Cove specialized in substance use treatment through prevention, residential and outpatient care, medication-assisted treatment, and aftercare.
The services rarely overlapped.
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“There really wasn’t an overlap,” said Leia Bell, chief impact officer and executive director of the Ibis Healthcare Foundation. “We were already cross-referencing to each other. Bringing the organizations together allowed people to move between services more fluidly.”
What changed was not volume. It was continuity.
A single electronic medical record now follows a patient across mental health care, addiction treatment, primary care, pharmacy and housing support. Information moves with the person.
“Historically, health care has operated in silos,” Morgan said. “This place for that. This place for this. Now it’s one assessment, one system.”
Care that responds in real time
That structure allows clinicians to address co-occurring needs without delay.
A patient admitted for depression can step down into outpatient therapy while also receiving treatment for opioid addiction. Someone entering care for anxiety may be routed to primary care to address underlying conditions driving symptoms.
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“It’s not just treating symptoms,” Bell said. “It’s getting to know the person, their family, their situation and then making sure they’re getting the right care at the right time.”
Ibis operates an in-house pharmacy that is directly connected to its medical record system. Pharmacists can identify medication interactions instantly.
Prescriptions can be mailed to patients without reliable transportation. Primary care visits at its federally qualified health center can cost as little as $12 for uninsured patients.
“All of those touchpoints being under one roof provides better care,” Morgan said.
Why philanthropy still matters
Despite its scale, Ibis does not operate with wide financial margins.
Funding is largely tied to the number of patients served rather than the complexity of care delivered.
“The way our funding is set up is really on a per-patient basis,” Bell said. “The more patients we see, the more we’re funded. But we’re not operating on huge margins by any stretch.”
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That structure limits flexibility and explains why the foundation plays a critical role.
“The foundation helps add layers to treatment that contracted rates just don’t cover,” Bell said.
Those layers often determine whether care is simply available or truly effective.
Meeting crisis where it happens
One of the clearest examples is how Ibis responds to behavioral health crises in schools.
Therapists and case managers are embedded on campuses across Hillsborough County, supporting students in crisis and helping teachers navigate behavioral health challenges in the classroom.
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“We want to keep kids in school,” Bell said.
When a child experiences a crisis, clinicians assess and de-escalate onsite whenever possible, remaining in daily contact with the student and family until outpatient care begins.
Previously, many children were transported by law enforcement to crisis centers for evaluation, even when inpatient care was not ultimately required.
“That’s hugely disruptive and stigmatizing for a child,” Bell said. “Any time we can prevent that trauma and keep them in their community and family, that’s the goal.”
Inpatient hospitalization remains available when safety requires it. Early intervention has reduced Baker Act usage while preserving access to higher levels of care when needed.
“It’s about dignity,” Bell said. “And about building coping skills that last.”
Innovation measured by outcomes
Innovation at Ibis is judged by patient outcomes.
Expanded offerings include acupuncture as an adjunct therapy for stress, pain management and medication support, along with the CAT Team, an intensive family-centered program for children who do not respond to traditional therapy.
“The return on that program is incredible,” Morgan said. “We’re seeing kids graduate high school, apply to college and families stabilize.”
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Later this year, Ibis will open Mariposa, Florida’s first women-only behavioral health hospital. The facility is designed to provide a gender specific environment where women are treated by women, with complementary therapies layered into inpatient care.
“It’s about creating a space where people feel safe enough to heal,” Bell said.
Care beyond the clinic
Ibis also operates programs that address stability itself.
Those include a homeless shelter and affordable housing, along with a food pantry that has distributed more than 60,000 pounds of groceries, HIV outreach services and a mobile medical unit that brings care directly to patients with limited mobility.
“These programs don’t exist to generate income,” Morgan said. “They exist to help people and keep families together.”
A different nonprofit model
Ibis operates on an annual budget of approximately $80 million, funded largely by public and contracted payers.
Morgan described the organization as one of the last remaining community-based providers in the region.
“Everybody else has been bought out by for-profit parent companies,” she said.
“You’re not going to get a better investment,” Morgan said. “We’re real. We’re meeting people where they are. And we’re not duplicating services in the community.”
What comes next
Demand for behavioral health services continues to rise. One in five people experiences a mental illness in a given year. The pressure on systems is not easing.
Ibis leaders see the merger not as a finish line but as infrastructure for the next decade.
“If we’ve done our job right,” Bell said, “people won’t feel lost when they’re in crisis. They’ll know where to go. And they’ll know they’ll be treated with dignity when they get there.”
For Tampa Bay, the question may not be whether systems like this work, but whether the region can afford to operate without them.
For more information about the Ibis Healthcare Foundation, click here. For more information about upcoming Ibis Healthcare events, click here.
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