Jennifer Thomas, M.D., FASAM

Dr. Jennifer Thomas, MD, FASAM is board-certified in family medicine and addiction physician and currently serves as Medical Director of Integrated Behavioral Health at Morris Hospital in Morris, IL. She completed her medical degree at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, IL in 2007, and completed her family medicine residency at Hinsdale Hospital outside Chicago in 2010.

Dr. Thomas practices in a community-based, rural setting and is passionate about integrating behavioral health services into primary care. She completed the 2018 University of California Irvine Train New Trainers Primary Care Psychiatry Fellowship. As a leader in developing partnerships between academic research settings and community-based providers, Dr. Thomas works closely with the University of Washington AIMS Center. Dr. Thomas serves as Project Lead for Morris Hospital’s partnership with the AIMS Center’s NIMH-sponsored research study CHAMP: Collaborating to Heal Addiction and Mental Health in Primary Care. As an advocate for increasing access to medication for Opioid Use Disorder, particularly in rural settings, Dr. Thomas was part of an inaugural cohort of 5 IL physicians supported by ISAM to become board certified in Addiction Medicine through the ABPM Practice Pathway. Dr. Thomas also serves as the National Medical Co-Director for Integrated Care at the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association. Dr. Thomas is also a Senior Fellow for Health System Integration at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

2026 Presentation:

Launching Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) within a health system is both a strategic priority and a complex organizational transformation. Barriers such as siloed systems and the shortage of behavioral health providers can instead be viewed as powerful catalysts to drive integration. This presentation explores how health systems can transform these obstacles into opportunities by applying principles of Change Mangement, leadership theory, and team science. Using a narrative timeline, Dr. Jennifer Thomas will share Morris Hospital’s IBH journey, highlighting both her personal journey as a PCP champion and how the health system enhanced access to behavioral health services for the community it serves.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe Morris Hospital’s IBH implementation journey, emphasizing key challenges and opportunities from planning to launch and long-term sustainment
• Identify strategies to enhance team members’ self-efficacy as IBH leaders
• Examine the key drivers of team effectiveness
• Reflect on practical lessons learned to inform participants’ own IBH journey