 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Local News
Few facilities available for extreme mental patients By Janet Conner-Knox | Daily Times Staff Writer When Wilson Medical Center closes the doors to its inpatient psychiatric ward today, there will no longer be a place in Wilson County where someone who suffers from a mental illness can voluntarily check themselves in to get help. That has some local mental health advocates worried about where people who need this help will go. "The mental health capacity in Wilson doesn't meet the need for our general population, said Jennifer Hancock, executive director of the Wilson Mental Health Association. "The problem is where will the people with mental disabilities go. The thing is that it doesn't matter if you have great insurance or you're rich or poor, you're still not going to get treatment in Wilson County -- not in-patient treatment," said Hancock. Hospital officials say the closing of the psychiatric care ward is not permanent, but there have been no announced plans for when the ward would reopen. Karen Salacki, director of the Beacon Center in Rocky Mount, said that the center's staff is working hard to help find some solutions for mentally ill patients and their families. "We have a call center that is open 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day. During that call, a counselor will assess if the person's needs fall under emergency urgent, or routine," said Salacki. "Obviously the emergency calls need to be seen quickly." The Beacon Center is the result of last summer's merger of the public mental health centers operating in Wilson, Greene, Nash and Edgecombe counties. The center does not provide any inpatient services but refers people to private providers. Salacki said mental health problems can be similar to physical health problems in that not every illness calls for inpatient treatment. When hospitalization is necessary, Salacki said that keeping the stay as short as possible and as close to the community as possible is the best solution. Staying close to children that are hospitalized is not possible for Wilson residents. The closest mental hospital for children, for example, is Brynn Marr hospital in Jacksonville. Cherry Hospital, a state mental health facility in Goldsboro, is the primary place that people who need hospitalization will be sent. Salacki said that once the realignment of the state mental hospitals has been completed and Dorthea Dix Hospital in Raleigh and John Umstead Hospital in Butner are closed, Cherry will have several counties sending patients to them. Those counties will include Johnston, Wayne, Cumberland, Bladen, Columbus, Robeson, Scotland Edgecombe, Nash and Greene, as well as Wilson. "Since Cherry is a state hospital, it's the place where suicidal and those people who are a danger to society can go. Cherry is the one place close to us that takes involuntary patients," said Hancock. "But there are many days now that Cherry diverts anyone trying to come to them for in-house treatment to another facility because they have no room." Hancock said that when a patient needs to be admitted to a mental facility and there is no room for them, patients are waiting in emergency rooms at local hospitals until someone can find them a bed at a mental hospital. "That could take hours or days. If they are having a nervous breakdown but are not seen as suicidal or a danger to others, the patient probably will be sent back home," said Hancock. In Edgecombe County there is a small hospital that has in-patient treatment called Coastal Plains, said Hancock. "I have had people who have come to us (Wilson Mental Health Associates) after being referred to Coastal Plains and were told that their family member did not qualify. Coastal Plains is private so they can be selective of who they take," said Hancock. Coastal Plains doesn't rule out a patient because of Medicaid, said Hancock, but sometimes the reasons are as simple as the patient might be on some other medications. The hospital can choose not to accept a patient for mental treatment while they on other kinds of medications. Pitt County Memorial Hospital also has a unit for mental health inhouse treatment, but Hancock said that unit is often full. Holly Hill Hospital in Wake County is also a private hospital. They take Medicaid and health insurance. "Everyone should be concerned," said Hancock. "Mental illness can happen to anyone at any time." janet@wilsontimes.com | 265-7847
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Add Comment:  (All comments must be approved)
View Comments: (0 comments)
|
|
|
|
