All of us know or love someone who has a mental health issue. The last thing you want for them during a mental crisis is to be transferred from the hospital to a facility more than an hour away for their behavioral health care. For this reason, CGH Medical Center offers our new 10-bed Behavioral Health Unit. Read more about our new Unit here.
Listen to our May 27, 2021 WSDR Radio interview.
What is a behavioral health unit?
Sometimes called a psychiatric unit, a behavioral health unit (BHU) is an area of the hospital designed specifically for providing care for reasons related to mental health. These issues include serious conditions such as major depression, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and even more severe issues such as suicidal or homicidal thoughts. As a result of the serious conditions there may also be minor episodes of stress, anxiety and depression, and alcohol dependence or drug use.
People typically need care in a BHU because their symptoms are serious and unstable, or they are at risk for harming themselves or others. The main goal of the unit is to provide a safe, secure setting where adults can receive treatment and move beyond the immediate crisis.
What does the Behavioral Health Unit offer?
The unit will consist of 10 beds (four semi-private rooms and two private), along with inpatient therapy groups run by all levels of professionals. Anupama Upadhyay, MD*, and Lorri Mostad, MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, will be available seven days a week to provide psychiatric diagnostic and prescribing services to adult inpatients.
What treatment can patients expect?
Once the unit opens, if a community member feels like they are in need of mental health care, they should present to the CGH Emergency Department to complete a medical screening exam. This exam will rule out medical conditions that can also trigger psychological symptoms. Patients will then be evaluated by Sinnissippi Centers, and if they meet the inpatient criteria of our unit, will be admitted.
A different patient experience...close to home
- Treatment in the days following admission is tailored to each patient’s individual needs.
- Our philosophy with patient care includes:
- Patients will work together, hold each other accountable and help each other get well.
- Patients will be engaged in active therapy to prevent rehospitalization and will learn the life skills, problem-solving skills and symptom-management skills necessary for them to be successful outside of the hospital.
- Help patients realize that sometimes hospitalization isn’t the worst thing to happen to them. Sometimes it can be a really good thing to help get people stabilized and get a fresh look at what’s going on with their mental health.
- Work together with each patient to develop a plan that not only helps their outpatient care be more successful, but also gives them an opportunity to learn about all of the community-based treatment and support services that are available to help them outside of the hospital.