Mariame Kounta forged a non-traditional and impactful path to CHD, where she is a vital part of our agency’s new Primary Care program—a cutting-edge initiative that integrates medical care, nursing case management, and behavioral health services.

When asked what her favorite part of her job is, Kounta, a nurse practitioner for CHD’s Certified Clinical Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) at our Park Street Outpatient Clinic, answered, “The patients,” without hesitation—which is not entirely surprising. After all, nurses typically enter their profession because they like helping people, and Kounta is certainly no exception.

However, nursing wasn’t her first career choice. Kounta earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science at Western New England University at a time when the field was abuzz with the Y2K bug, or “millennium bug,” that was projected to wreak havoc in computer networks around the world beginning in the year 2000—a programming flaw that inspired many students’ interest in computer science and software engineering.

“But I wanted to go into something that would use my interpersonal talents, instead of staring at a computer screen all day,” she said. “I wanted more human interaction.” A native of Mali who grew up in the West African country of Senegal, Kounta explained that she already had a strong math and science background before coming to the US, because she had done college-level work in high school, and after high school, she had taken civil engineering courses in Mali.

As an undergraduate at Western New England University, an internship as a high school math teacher enabled her to use her people skills, and during college she also worked as an assistant director of Berkshire County Arc, an organization in Pittsfield, MA that provides supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, autism, and brain injuries. It gave her a taste of what it’s like to work with a human services agency, and she valued the experience.

But the field of nursing intrigued her, and when she went to her own doctor’s appointments—or when she brought clients to their appointments—she took note of the nurses’ important role in the health care team. “I got to know a little bit more about nursing, and it seemed like a natural for me, and it also involved using my science background,” she said.

After that, Kounta worked as a direct support professional, and then a program manager for Pathlight in Springfield, an organization that offers similar services as Berkshire County Arc. At the same time she earned an associate degree in nursing from Holyoke Community College, and became a registered nurse in one of Pathlight’s group homes, working her way up to nursing supervisor and then director of nursing.

While at Pathlight, Kounta earned a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) at UMass Amherst with the help of a graduate leadership scholarship from the Providers Council. Nurses who have a DNP, a terminal degree, are highly sought after for positions in nursing leadership and are considered key players in the future of healthcare in the US.

Working full-time and earning a doctoral degree, along with raising four children, was demanding, to say the least. “Going for my doctorate wasn’t an easy decision, but I knew this was something I wanted to do, so I could better serve the people that I’m caring for,” she said. “I had to stay very disciplined to juggle everything, but I had a network of family and friends who supported me. I had friends who I could count on to take my kids to the movies and other places at times so I could concentrate on my studies. Keeping up with the work was tough, but I had to keep my eyes on the prize. When I do something, I like to do it all the way,” she said.”

Laser-Focused, But Also Well-Balanced

Kounta said that part of what got her through graduate school was balancing four types of energy: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. These four pillars of holistic health, used by many self-help experts, originated in the 2005 book The Power of Full Engagement by James Loehr and Tony Schwartz. Kounta swears by this philosophy of energy management—for example, when she had to study into the wee hours and was dragging from lack of sleep the next day, she was sure to take breaks that day and then get enough sleep the following night.

Earning her doctorate also improved her English fluency. “Going through the whole program really helped with my writing skills,” she said. “When I came to the US, I had to basically learn English from scratch. School in Senegal was all in French. I also know the language from Mali, which is called Bambara, and in Senegal, we spoke Wolof, so I grew up learning these three languages simultaneously. But I got a lot of exposure to English here when I babysat for families, and by watching the news on TV.”

Another advantage to obtaining her doctorate in nursing: “I can use the clinical skills I learned at home,” she said. “When my kids get sick, I’m able to assess them.”

One of the most gratifying moments in her career was in her first week at CHD, when she was reunited with a former Pathlight colleague at the CCBHC, who reminded her that Kounta had encouraged her to go to nursing school when both of them had worked at that agency. At the time, Kounta was training direct care staff in Pathlight’s medication administration program, and they began discussing the nursing profession. “You can do it,” Kounta had told her, relating her own story of going to school while raising her own children—and this inspired the woman to pursue the nursing field. Sure enough, in the “small world” department,” they are now working together again—both as nurses.

Kounta insists that if you’re dedicated, motivated, energetic, and flexible, you can achieve great things, and she never hesitates to share her journey to inspire fellow immigrants and single moms to thrive in their careers.

Integrating Primary Care into Mental Healthcare

At CHD, Kounta is excited to work with an innovative model of care coordination at the CCBHC—one that is breaking ground by integrating primary care and behavioral health services in one setting. Customarily, such integration involved bringing behavioral health clinicians into a primary care practice, but the CCBHC is doing a reverse integration in that it is bringing the primary care practice fully into a behavioral health clinic and operating as one team.

Traditionally, behavioral health has always been in one category and primary care services in another—two separate silos. But this pilot program improves coordination and collaboration between the two fields, which enhances the clinic’s continuum of care. “A lot of patients want to come to the same place for mental health and primary care—it’s a one stop shop,” she said. “They are familiar with our people and our building, and that decreases their anxiety.”

Kounta particularly enjoyed participating in CHD’s recent “medical roadshows,” in which CCBHC primary care staff visited some of our outpatient behavioral health clinics and not only linked clients to medical services, but also scheduled them for follow-up care at our Park Street Clinic for ongoing medical care.

“This was important, especially in letting people know that we’re offering urgent care at Park Street,” she said. “During the medical roadshows, I had patients who initially said, ‘I don’t want to change my PCP—I want to stick with my own,’ but after meeting with us, they asked, ‘Can I change my PCP? I want to go to CHD.’ That makes me feel good.”

She said that starting a new program like CHD Primary Care has been both rewarding and challenging. She recalled a homeless patient with an open sore who received primary care at the Park Street clinic, and she was especially pleased that her team was also able to get him an immediate appointment with a vascular specialist, which was vital because his wound was caused by an arterial ulcer. “We got him that appointment in less than a week—it wasn’t easy but our whole team worked together to make it happen,” she said. “One of the challenges of beginning this program is establishing connections with different hospitals and other providers to put in referrals for patients and now we’re making a lot of progress.”

CHD Senior Vice President of Medical Services Jalil Johnson said that Kounta has greatly helped the Primary Care program increase our ability to provide timely access to whole-person care. “Mariame has been a great addition to the program in that she has decades of experience working with some of the vulnerable populations we serve,” he said. “She truly understands the historical care gaps, and how providing physical healthcare—as well as addressing the social determinants of health—can improve health outcomes and truly help the people we serve live more fulfilling lives.”