Logan Homan, a board-certified pediatrician at the University of Utah Health Stansbury Health Center in Stansbury Park, has discovered something that is quietly transforming how primary care doctors handle mental health crises: a single phone call to a psychiatrist. For Homan, who has spent two years building trust with his young patients and their families, that connection through Utah's CALL-UP program has become indispensable—not because it replaces his clinical judgment, but because it amplifies it.
CALL-UP represents a practical answer to a growing crisis in American medicine: primary care providers increasingly face mental health concerns they were not trained to manage alone, yet patients often cannot access psychiatrists for weeks or months. By connecting general practitioners with psychiatric specialists through rapid consultations, the program expands mental health care across Utah without requiring patients to navigate the fragmented system of referrals, waitlists, and geographic barriers that typically defines psychiatric access. In a state where many rural and suburban communities lack dedicated mental health specialists, this model offers real relief.
Homan has always felt drawn to mental health, seeing it as inseparable from pediatric care. One of his core professional goals is to dismantle the stigma that still surrounds psychiatric concerns—to create a space where young patients feel safe disclosing struggles that might otherwise remain hidden. "I think in this day and age, general pediatricians are having to help more and more patients with mental health concerns," he explained. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by this expectation, Homan views CALL-UP as a tool that makes him a better clinician. "CALL-UP is a resource that not only makes me more effective as a provider, but it also helps my patients get the care they need, when they need it."
The consultation model works because it meets providers where they are. When Homan encounters a patient with symptoms that concern him—whether anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, or more serious presentations—he can contact CALL-UP and speak directly with a psychiatrist. That specialist talks him through diagnostic considerations, recommends management strategies he can implement in his clinic, and helps him determine whether the patient truly needs in-person psychiatric care or whether careful monitoring and support from their pediatrician will suffice. It is collaborative problem-solving rather than handoff medicine.
"Every time I have used CALL-UP, they have just been wonderful," Homan said. "They talk me through different recommendations and let me know if I can manage things for the patients or if I need to refer them to a psychiatrist." That distinction matters enormously. Not every mental health concern requires specialist intervention, yet without guidance, many primary care doctors either manage inappropriately or defer all cases reflexively, creating unnecessary bottlenecks. CALL-UP cuts through that dilemma by providing real-time expert input.
As mental health challenges among young people continue climbing—and as pediatric psychiatry remains one of the most undersupplied medical specialties—programs like CALL-UP represent a scalable path forward. By leveraging existing primary care infrastructure and empowering frontline doctors with psychiatric expertise, Utah is demonstrating that expanding access does not always require building new clinics or hiring new specialists. Sometimes it simply requires connecting the doctors already in the community with the knowledge they need. For patients in Stansbury Park and across Utah, that call can be the difference between struggling silently and getting help.