Selected Podcast
Overview of The Klein Family Harford Crisis Center
In this panel interview Dr. Richard Lewis and Pamela Llewellyn, MSW, LCSW-C share background information on The Klein Family Harford Crisis Center, the services offered, who it will serve, and how it will help solve overpopulation in the ED.
Featuring:
Pamela Llewellyn, MSW is the Regional Director for Behavioral Health Outpatient and Social Work Services.
Richard Lewis, MD | Pamela Llewellyn, MSW, LCSW-C, MBA
Richard Lewis, MD is the Regional Medical Director of Psychiatry/Behavioral Health.Pamela Llewellyn, MSW is the Regional Director for Behavioral Health Outpatient and Social Work Services.
Transcription:
Bill Klaproth (Host): So is the new Klein Family Harford Crisis Center and what do you need to know about it? Let’s find out with Pam Llewellyn, Regional Director for Behavioral Health Outpatient and Social Work Services, and Dr. Richard Lewis, Regional Medical Director of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. This is the Hero Podcast from UM Upper Chesapeake Health. I’m Bill Klaproth. Pam, let’s start with you. What is the Harford Crisis Center and what is the background on it?
Pam Llewellyn (Guest): So the Harford Crisis Center really came about – the idea came about a couple of years ago when some community stakeholders and agencies got together, both public and private agencies and talked about the deficits in behavioral healthcare in the region and what we could do as a community to come together and kind of solve some of these issues. So out of that several meetings, came the idea of being able to offer our community education and support, resource navigation so that folks knew what to access, where, and how, and a navigation tool that kept folks up to date with up and coming agencies and programs and services as well as a place for people could go – could physically go if they were in a behavioral health crisis meaning any type of mental health or substance use crisis. So that’s kind of the background on the project and then fast forward two years, we now have the Klein Family Harford Crisis Center, which as we talk hopefully you’ll see incorporates all of those elements.
Host: And many important services too. So Dr. Lewis can you tell us the important dates that we should know about?
Dr. Richard Lewis (Guest): Our 24/7 call line and mobile crisis team are already open. Our classic behavioral health clinic with psychotherapy and medication management also has opened and is active. We are planning to begin the walk in urgent care services on June 10th and hopefully with the crisis residential beds to follow shortly behind and then Ashley Addiction Treatment will move in to the facility later this summer.
Host: Well it’s an exciting time with these new openings. So Pam, can you tell us exactly why this crisis center is needed?
Pam: Well there’s several reasons why it’s needed, but the primary one is we really wanted to be able to provide individuals who are experiencing crisis an alternative to our hospitals and emergency department’s care. So if anyone has ever been in that sort of situation or if you have a loved one that say they have depression or anxiety or they’re experiencing substance abuse, it’s not very comfortable to be in an emergency department receiving care when you’re next to somebody that’s in a medical trauma and that sort of environment. It can actually exacerbate some of those symptoms. So really we wanted a space that was safe and comfortable, that was person centered, that provided kind of a therapeutic approach to care where the folks that were there treating the individuals had a specialized focus to receive those services.
Host: And Dr. Lewis, can you tell us what services are offered?
Dr. Lewis: So at the Behavioral Health Crisis Center we have a 24/7 call line, which provides resources and care navigation to anyone who calls throughout the day. That is run by the Affiliated Santé and also by Affiliated Santé is the mobile crisis team, which is a team of clinicians that can go out into the community and assess people in their homes, in the schools, providing resources where ever they’re needed. After that, we’ve again already opened the classic behavioral clinic with psychotherapy and medication management. We will soon open the 24/7 urgent care walk in clinic, which is the behavioral health version of the ambulatory clinics that have popped up throughout the area in recent times where someone can walk in, again, any day of the week at any time to be assessed by clinicians to determine a diagnosis, triaged to the most next appropriate stage of care, and then shortly after we’ll open the crisis center residential beds, which are short term day beds for those guests who need additional time to stabilize, who need some more treatment that don’t really require the higher level of care in the hospital, and the final piece is Ashley Addiction Treatment, a substance use treatment provider who’s been in the area for many years who now provides outpatient services and they will move those services into the building for a central location.
Host: Many, many services and you can see how this is an important benefit to the community. So Pam can you tell us who does this serve?
Pam: So all of the services offered in the center can serve any individual that is in need of care, from age 5 on up. The services are focused on adults. Our residential crisis beds are adult only; however, the 24/7 call center, the mobile team, the walk in urgent care can serve child and adolescent as well.
Host: And Dr. Lewis can you explain the problem that’s trying to be solved with the emergency department population as well as talk about new referral patterns for the doctors?
Dr. Lewis: As Pam was mentioning before, we are really trying to, in a population health effort, find the most appropriate setting for all of our patients and guests and we feel that the crisis center will be a much more comforting and much more therapeutic place for our population of patients to go. Again, it’s difficult if you’ve been in the emergency department recently there are a variety of things going on at all times and for our patients in crisis, that’s generally not the most therapeutic setting, so we hope to move all of those patients over here into the crisis center to be more clinically effective and then one of the big things I think we don’t spend enough time talking about with the crisis center is it’s not just about crisis. Our hope for this center is it does become a behavioral health hub and a central location for services but also the front door for anyone who has any type of behavioral health need, so eventually the services will hopefully evolve to accept referrals through primary care to be a resource for patients, for families, for providers, for hospitals. We want it to be more than just crisis focused.
Host: I like how you put that, the front door for anyone in need. And Pam can you tell us about recruitment for the center?
Pam: Sure, so we have a mix of staff here at the center. We have nursing staff, we have administrative staff, we have licensed behavioral health counselors and so we’ll also have, from some of our community partners, we’ll also have case management and individuals who will be here that can help link people with the state health insurance if that’s needed. We’ll also have a robust peer recovery team of professionals here so we have a good mix of individuals, a multidisciplinary approach to care if you will. So right now we are still recruiting for some nurses and also some admin as well as licensed behavioral health counselors and anyone who is interested can go on our website to apply. It’s umuch.org/careers.
Host: Great information Pam, and Dr. Lewis can you wrap this up for us and talk about the reason behind the naming?
Dr. Lewis: Andy Klein was a member of the Upper Chesapeake Board for many years and a leader in the community and after many years of philanthropy he did pass in an unfortunate motor vehicle accident recently but prior to that passing, he was a driving force for this mission. He was one of the main people who took this from an idea to a building and a meaningful service. He was one of the main leads in our fundraising efforts to really make this a reality and in this passing, his family continued in that leading role with great generosity and really made this happen for all of us.
Host: Interesting story and sorry to hear of his passing. Well Pam and Dr. Lewis thank you so much for your time. This is the Hero Podcast from UM Upper Chesapeake Health, a podcast for internal communications. Check back for our next episode soon and thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth (Host): So is the new Klein Family Harford Crisis Center and what do you need to know about it? Let’s find out with Pam Llewellyn, Regional Director for Behavioral Health Outpatient and Social Work Services, and Dr. Richard Lewis, Regional Medical Director of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. This is the Hero Podcast from UM Upper Chesapeake Health. I’m Bill Klaproth. Pam, let’s start with you. What is the Harford Crisis Center and what is the background on it?
Pam Llewellyn (Guest): So the Harford Crisis Center really came about – the idea came about a couple of years ago when some community stakeholders and agencies got together, both public and private agencies and talked about the deficits in behavioral healthcare in the region and what we could do as a community to come together and kind of solve some of these issues. So out of that several meetings, came the idea of being able to offer our community education and support, resource navigation so that folks knew what to access, where, and how, and a navigation tool that kept folks up to date with up and coming agencies and programs and services as well as a place for people could go – could physically go if they were in a behavioral health crisis meaning any type of mental health or substance use crisis. So that’s kind of the background on the project and then fast forward two years, we now have the Klein Family Harford Crisis Center, which as we talk hopefully you’ll see incorporates all of those elements.
Host: And many important services too. So Dr. Lewis can you tell us the important dates that we should know about?
Dr. Richard Lewis (Guest): Our 24/7 call line and mobile crisis team are already open. Our classic behavioral health clinic with psychotherapy and medication management also has opened and is active. We are planning to begin the walk in urgent care services on June 10th and hopefully with the crisis residential beds to follow shortly behind and then Ashley Addiction Treatment will move in to the facility later this summer.
Host: Well it’s an exciting time with these new openings. So Pam, can you tell us exactly why this crisis center is needed?
Pam: Well there’s several reasons why it’s needed, but the primary one is we really wanted to be able to provide individuals who are experiencing crisis an alternative to our hospitals and emergency department’s care. So if anyone has ever been in that sort of situation or if you have a loved one that say they have depression or anxiety or they’re experiencing substance abuse, it’s not very comfortable to be in an emergency department receiving care when you’re next to somebody that’s in a medical trauma and that sort of environment. It can actually exacerbate some of those symptoms. So really we wanted a space that was safe and comfortable, that was person centered, that provided kind of a therapeutic approach to care where the folks that were there treating the individuals had a specialized focus to receive those services.
Host: And Dr. Lewis, can you tell us what services are offered?
Dr. Lewis: So at the Behavioral Health Crisis Center we have a 24/7 call line, which provides resources and care navigation to anyone who calls throughout the day. That is run by the Affiliated Santé and also by Affiliated Santé is the mobile crisis team, which is a team of clinicians that can go out into the community and assess people in their homes, in the schools, providing resources where ever they’re needed. After that, we’ve again already opened the classic behavioral clinic with psychotherapy and medication management. We will soon open the 24/7 urgent care walk in clinic, which is the behavioral health version of the ambulatory clinics that have popped up throughout the area in recent times where someone can walk in, again, any day of the week at any time to be assessed by clinicians to determine a diagnosis, triaged to the most next appropriate stage of care, and then shortly after we’ll open the crisis center residential beds, which are short term day beds for those guests who need additional time to stabilize, who need some more treatment that don’t really require the higher level of care in the hospital, and the final piece is Ashley Addiction Treatment, a substance use treatment provider who’s been in the area for many years who now provides outpatient services and they will move those services into the building for a central location.
Host: Many, many services and you can see how this is an important benefit to the community. So Pam can you tell us who does this serve?
Pam: So all of the services offered in the center can serve any individual that is in need of care, from age 5 on up. The services are focused on adults. Our residential crisis beds are adult only; however, the 24/7 call center, the mobile team, the walk in urgent care can serve child and adolescent as well.
Host: And Dr. Lewis can you explain the problem that’s trying to be solved with the emergency department population as well as talk about new referral patterns for the doctors?
Dr. Lewis: As Pam was mentioning before, we are really trying to, in a population health effort, find the most appropriate setting for all of our patients and guests and we feel that the crisis center will be a much more comforting and much more therapeutic place for our population of patients to go. Again, it’s difficult if you’ve been in the emergency department recently there are a variety of things going on at all times and for our patients in crisis, that’s generally not the most therapeutic setting, so we hope to move all of those patients over here into the crisis center to be more clinically effective and then one of the big things I think we don’t spend enough time talking about with the crisis center is it’s not just about crisis. Our hope for this center is it does become a behavioral health hub and a central location for services but also the front door for anyone who has any type of behavioral health need, so eventually the services will hopefully evolve to accept referrals through primary care to be a resource for patients, for families, for providers, for hospitals. We want it to be more than just crisis focused.
Host: I like how you put that, the front door for anyone in need. And Pam can you tell us about recruitment for the center?
Pam: Sure, so we have a mix of staff here at the center. We have nursing staff, we have administrative staff, we have licensed behavioral health counselors and so we’ll also have, from some of our community partners, we’ll also have case management and individuals who will be here that can help link people with the state health insurance if that’s needed. We’ll also have a robust peer recovery team of professionals here so we have a good mix of individuals, a multidisciplinary approach to care if you will. So right now we are still recruiting for some nurses and also some admin as well as licensed behavioral health counselors and anyone who is interested can go on our website to apply. It’s umuch.org/careers.
Host: Great information Pam, and Dr. Lewis can you wrap this up for us and talk about the reason behind the naming?
Dr. Lewis: Andy Klein was a member of the Upper Chesapeake Board for many years and a leader in the community and after many years of philanthropy he did pass in an unfortunate motor vehicle accident recently but prior to that passing, he was a driving force for this mission. He was one of the main people who took this from an idea to a building and a meaningful service. He was one of the main leads in our fundraising efforts to really make this a reality and in this passing, his family continued in that leading role with great generosity and really made this happen for all of us.
Host: Interesting story and sorry to hear of his passing. Well Pam and Dr. Lewis thank you so much for your time. This is the Hero Podcast from UM Upper Chesapeake Health, a podcast for internal communications. Check back for our next episode soon and thanks for listening.