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Jefferson Hospital now offering mental health treatment

Augusta Chronicle - 11/17/2021

Nov. 17—Since cutting the ribbon opening its new Center for Behavioral Health in late August, Jefferson Hospital has been working to hire the nurses, therapists and technicians to staff the unit. Monday, Nov. 15, the center officially began taking referrals and seeing its first patients.

Wendy Martin, the hospital's CEO, said the inpatient behavioral health program, located in a newly renovated wing of its main building, is designed to fill a regional gap by providing treatment for mental and behavioral health services particularly for the underserved adult population.

"The Jefferson Hospital Center for Behavioral Health program offers individualized care in a warm, supportive, and safe environment and assists our patients who are experiencing behavioral problems related to the normal aging process," Martin said.

Jefferson Hospital is partnering with UltraGroup Healthcare to provide these services in its 11,000-square-foot, 10-bed facility. The average length of stay for someone admitted for short term stabilization in the unit is expected to be between 11 and 14 days. The total renovation of the unit represents a $2.8 million investment.

Martin said that there is a significant shortage of beds for patients who need behavioral health services across the state. This center has been under development for years and the hospital applied for its first certificate of need in 2015. The unit is unique for this region and is expected to serve patients from Jefferson and surrounding counties.

"We had a group come in yesterday that could potentially be organizations that would send us patients, nursing homes and long-term care facilities," Martin said. "We brought them in to see the unit and so we could answer any questions about the referral process."

The unit is prepared to serve any patient with a behavioral diagnosis, including patients with dementia and other disorders.

Adrian Bellinger, the unit's social worker/clinical therapist, said that the pandemic has caused a spike in the need for mental health services among the elderly population.

"When COVID hit a lot of elderly patients who were in assisted living and nursing home facilities could no longer receive visitors and their mental state was impacted," Bellinger said. "Some felt that 'nobody loves me,' 'where's my family.'"

The unit at Jefferson Hospital will be able to help patients facing depression and anxiety.

"We'll do some substance abuse as well, but we won't necessarily do detox, but we will take those patients once they have detoxed," Bellinger said. "We'll do a lot of medication management dealing with psychotropic medications for those different diagnosises like schizophrenia, bipolar maybe borderline personality, catering to a population, we're saying 55 and above."

Other facilities, even in Augusta, are having to transfer these patients as far as Atlanta, she said. Jefferson Hospital offers a service much closer to home for people throughout the Central Savannah River Area.

For more information about Jefferson Hospital'sCenter for Behavioral Health see its website at JeffersonHosp.com.

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