Daviess Community Hospital Opens
New Inpatient Geriatric Psych Unit
December, 2002 – Daviess Community Hospital announced another expansion today with the opening of a brand new inpatient unit that provides intensive psychiatric services for older adults. The hospital is accepting patients on the unit beginning today.
Earlier this year, the hospital marked the completion of a 4-year, $22 million building project. The opening today marked the completion of another renovation of an old section of the hospital and the introduction of a new type of inpatient unit.
The new unit will provide intensive psychiatric care for older adults. In the past, those who needed this type of care, and their families, had to seek the intensive treatment away from home at other facilities. The hospital studied the service and considered input from the community, nursing homes, and physicians over a two-year period before reaching a decision earlier this year to offer the new service and renovate space inside the hospital for the 10-bed unit.
The new unit employs about 20 professionals, including specially trained nurses, nurse aides, social workers, and therapists. Patients are under the care of Dr. Mohamad Roman, Psychiatrist, who has been providing psychiatric care through the hospital’s outpatient Behavioral Health Service for 2 years. He or another psychiatrist will provide ongoing consultation and treatment to patients on the unit, as well as those who receive care in the outpatient setting. Family physicians and specialists will also see patients on the unit to treat any medical concerns they have.
Treatment on the unit differs from a typical hospital unit. “Involving patients in active programming is the normal course of treatment,” said Kelly Clauss, Program Director for the unit. “If medically able, patients spend much of the day outside of their rooms, involved in therapy and activities.”
The unit’s design carries out the active programming theme well. It features a large activity room and dining area, as well as offices for counseling. The unit can accommodate 10 patients, with both private and semi-private rooms available.
Located on the third floor in one of the hospital’s oldest sections, extensive renovation had to be completed to the space before the unit could open in order to meet the strict building and safety codes for hospitals. “We have new heating and cooling, fire and safety alarms, and electrical and plumbing systems in the unit,” said Jim Heckert, hospital CEO. “It looks the same as our other new areas, so it’s appealing to patients and their loved ones as well.”
“We are very proud of this new service and our new unit,” said Heckert. “It’s another step we are taking to provide the health care services our community needs and expects from us. We know people want to get care and treatment close to home and this is another way they will be able to do that.”
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