Julie Carman

Julie Carman is the Behavioral Health Clinical Director and a Psych Provider at Boston Mountain Rural Health Clinic. She joined Boston Mountain in February 2021 as a psychiatric nurse practitioner and transitioned into the Clinical Director Role in September 2022. In addition to seeing patients, Julie provides administrative and clinical support that fosters quality care, provider education, collaboration, and team building.

Julie’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma Baptist University, Master of Science at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Post-Masters Certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Central Arkansas, and Post-Masters Certification as a Primary Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from the University of Cincinnati. She is Board Certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with American Nurses Credentialing Center, a member of American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Honor Society of Nursing -Sigma Theta Tau. She has over 25 years of nursing experience in various roles and settings in healthcare including hospital nursing, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, primary care outpatient clinics, and behavioral health outpatient clinics. In addition to her clinical background, she has experience as a faculty member at both the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith and University of Central Arkansas.

Julie has a passion for integration of Medical Services and Behavioral Health for greater continuity of care and is part of the most recent training program for Adult Behavioral Health in Primary Care by the REACH Institute, which focuses on collaboration between Behavioral Health and the Medical Home to identify at-risk patients, facilitate timely treatment and referrals, and mobilize existing resources for other care needs. Her personal philosophy of care is: Quality care should be provided to all patients, and all patients should be empowered to actively be a partner in their own care.

In her free time, Julie enjoys spending time with her family, baking homemade bread, gardening, and tending to her animals on her small hobby farm.

My role as a Behavioral Health Clinical Director is to encourage and facilitate engagement and collaboration between our Medical Providers and Behavioral Health Providers. The goal of integration would be for prompt identification, early treatment, and timely referral to necessary services for care. This can be an essential part of the medical home, where we often treat many underserved/underinsured/uninsured patients. In this setting, patients have greater access and providers have greater support in dealing with the many healthcare needs of this day and age. Collaboration between the medical and behavioral health “silos” can lead to more effective treatment of physical, mental health, and substance abuse disorders. Part of our work includes working within our own system and patients, but we also have a responsibility to the communities surrounding our clinics to be involved and make a difference. This can mean participating in community outreach events, and working with local law enforcement, and local schools to provide needed services.