People with serious mental illness are dying too soon — and Portland nonprofit groups Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare and Outside In are teaming up to do something about it.

Bringing medical care to the mentally ill and using peer wellness specialists are among the methods Cascadia and Outside In will employ in a pilot program, Oregon Partnership for Health Integration. The four-year program kicked off with the arrival of a $1.6 million federal grant Sept. 30.

Read more on OregonLive.com and hear from Cascadia’s Meghan Caughey and Ashleigh Flynn.