20 Sep 2015 Unity Health opens adolescent behavioral unit
Unity Health – Courage has officially opened its doors and is now accepting patients.
Located on Unity Health’s Specialty Care campus in Searcy, the new adolescent behavioral health unit is designed for adolescents ages 12-17 who are still in school and have emotional or behavioral issues.
Courage is a short-term, acute inpatient program that resulted from Community Health Needs Assessments surveyed over recent years. Results from all six counties (White, Jackson, Lonoke, Cleburne, Prairie and Woodruff) surveyed showed that a need assessed by community members was behavioral health/psychiatry services.
To help meet this need, Unity Health is making efforts to provide new essential healthcare services to a wide range of ages and diagnoses and provide not only care but also training for future psychiatrists through the Unity Health Graduate Medical Education program, which is the only osteopathic residency program for psychiatry in Arkansas.
“From the north Arkansas border down, there were no inpatient adolescent behavioral health services available,” said Ramona Staton, Unity Health vice president of specialty services. “People were very limited (on where) to receive care. There were referrals but no place to admit them because the locations available stay full.”
Patients are admitted to the program after being referred by a physician or school counselor. Parents can also call an intake coordinator from the Courage unit who can help determine the student’s needs.
On average, adolescent patients will stay in the unit for seven to 10 days, where they attend school during the day and go through therapy and treatment. The treatment team consists of a psychiatrist, medical doctor, therapist, nurse, a special education teacher, therapeutic recreation specialist, dietitians, mental health technicians as well as occupational, speech and physical therapy service providers.
In addition to Courage, Unity Health offers behavioral health programs for adults and geriatric patients.
Unity Health – Compass provides short-term care for adults ages 18 – 64 with diagnoses including depression, bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders.
Unity Health – Clearview (in Searcy) and Unity Health – Senior Care (in Newport) provide behavioral health services to ages 55 and older who suffer from behavioral or emotional changes that require specialized treatment.
The organization’s behavioral health services also include Unity Health – Clarity Health and Wellness clinic, recently relocated to 2908 Hawkins Dr. in Searcy, which provides essential behavioral health services for all ages and diagnoses and now accepts Medicaid patients.
For more information about Unity Health Behavioral Health Services, please visit Unity-Health.org/psychiatric-services. For more information about Unity Health – Courage, please call 501.278.3450.
