SPOKANE, Wash. — Inland Northwest Behavioral Health (INBH) said it is prepared to take in any patients in need of treatment once Providence Sacred Heart closes its child inpatient psychiatric unit this Saturday.
In July, Sacred Heart announced its plan to close its child inpatient psychiatric unit due to what they said was a lack of qualified workers for inpatient facilities.
On Thursday evening, Sacred Heart nurses and employees rallied against the decision in Cowley Park, saying the closure will leave a vulnerable population without access to high-level care.
INBH said, however, that it has been in frequent discussions with Sacred Heart about how to offset the impact of the closure.
“We have 25 beds, and they had 24 beds, and we found over the last three years, we started to take more of the adolescents and they started to take less of the patients,” said Rlynn Wickel, CEO of INBH.
Wickel said INBH will expand its adolescent services to 12-years-old to be able to accommodate the patients that won’t be able to go to Sacred Heart anymore.
“A lot of our patients, we’ve actually shared in common throughout the existence of our adolescent unit. It’s been in existence for well over four years. That being said, we have child and adolescent-specific psychiatrists here. We have well-trained nursing staff,” said Dr. Douglas Holl, Chief Medical Officer of INBH.
Holl said INBH wants to help, especially as mental health issues continue to rise across all age groups throughout the Inland Northwest.
He said while stigma can make it difficult to address mental health challenges, there are plenty of things people can do to support their loved ones.
“if somebody is isolating, maybe their work product is off if you’re an employer, maybe there’s increased anger or inability to cope with issues. Maybe there’s increased substance use,” said Dr. Holl.
Wickel said one of the most important things to do is to talk openly about mental health.
“Being there for your family, your friends… don’t create any cold shoulder to people, just be there for them,” said Wickel.
INBH said it will do what it can to continue to help those in need, even with 22 fewer beds come Saturday.
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