BH Fellows Program Celebrates Innovation Award, National Recognition, and Graduation of Fourth Cohort
Type: News
Focus Area: Workforce Development
Bridget McNamee, MID, middle, and Lisa Mekovsky, right, receive an award from Mental Health America of Southwestern PA CEO Laurie Barnett Levine.
This spring has been a season of celebration and momentum for the BH Fellows program, highlighting the growing impact of the initiative on strengthening the behavioral health workforce across Allegheny County and beyond.
Recently, the BH Fellows program was honored by Mental Health America of Southwestern PA with the Education Award at their 2026 Innovation Awards event. The award recognized BH Fellows collaborative approach to supporting and sustaining behavioral health professionals in the region. The award reflects the strong partnership among the Allegheny County Department of Human Services (ACDHS), Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF), Community Care Behavioral Health, higher education partners, and the regional behavioral health employers.
Launched in 2023, BH Fellows was created to address urgent workforce shortages by supporting early- and mid-career professionals working in critical behavioral health roles. Through leadership development, professional networking, peer support, and student loan repayment assistance, the program is helping to build a stronger and more sustainable behavioral health workforce.
The program’s impact also reached a national audience at NatCon in Denver, hosted by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing at the end of April. Bridget McNamee, project manager at JHF, and Lisa Mekovsky, BH Fellows program lead at ACDHS, presented a poster highlighting the BH Fellows model and its regional impact on workforce recruitment and retention.
The BH Fellows program celebrated its fourth graduating cohort on May 7.
The presentation showcased how BH Fellows is supporting behavioral health workers while strengthening services for communities across the region. As workforce challenges continue to affect behavioral health systems nationwide, the program is increasingly drawing attention as an innovative and collaborative model for workforce development.
In addition to these recognitions, the BH Fellows program celebrated another important milestone on May 7 with the graduation of its fourth cohort of fellows.
The graduating cohort represents an incredible group of behavioral health professionals whose dedication, leadership, and commitment to serving communities across the region are helping strengthen and sustain the workforce when it is needed most.
As part of their completion of the program, the fourth cohort will receive a total of $565,000 in student loan repayment support — a significant investment in the future of behavioral health care and in the professionals who make this work possible every day.
Learn more about the BH Fellows program and upcoming application opportunities at bhfellows.jhf.org.
