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Show Mental Health Center will listen to "Fantasy Land" blues Where do y ou go if . . . vou ' re concerned about the health of your child? There's brown sludge in your backyard stream? You're a senior citizen citi-zen needing legal help? In the next few issues, The Newspaper will try to answer an-swer these questions by focusing fo-cusing each week on one of the social service departments depart-ments which are being organized or-ganized to serve Summit County residents. This week, we talked with the folks on Main Street whose window sign asks if you're feeling "depressed, impressed, expressed...." the Park City Prevention Center. "I don't see Park City as the real world," said Teresa Nelson, director of the Prevention Pre-vention Center. She said she has dealt with too many people adults and childrenwho chil-drenwho live here with unrealistic ideas about what the town is like. If you also include the newcomers adjusting ad-justing to Park City life, and the old-timers adjusting to the town's growth, it's easy to see why Park City has its share of mental health problems. prob-lems. Under the new organization organiza-tion drawn up by Summit County Health Director Frank Singleton, Nelson will oversee mental health' services ser-vices for the county. Currently Cur-rently the Prevention Center is funded mainly to offer help with substance abuse. But Nelson's goal is to offer a Tiny tot returns to birthplace "Born in Park City" the T-shirt boldly proclaims. No, it isn't worn by someone who started life in the Miners Hospital before it closed it doors in the 1950s. Nor by a person who thinks life started start-ed over once he came to this mountain retreat. Instead, it's worn by David Robert Petereit, who opened the eyes in his two-and-a-half pound body less than three months ago in the Park City Health Center. The T-shirt was his coming-home outfit when he left the intensive care unit at the University of Utah Hospital. It-wasn't .exactly the tradi-n tional snuggly newborns go home in, but then David's birth w?s not exactly traditional. tradi-tional. "We were so pleased with the care he got the day he was born at the Park City Clinic we decided to have the shirt made," Glenda Petereit said. "He wore it when we brought him home . from the hospital last Wednesday, Wed-nesday, and we took him to the clinic to show him off." David was born Feb. 13 more than two months earlier ear-lier than he was expected. Mrs. Petereit said Tuesday that she had been seeing a Join Val for Dance-Aerobics at Prospector Athletic Club Now in Session. Mon. & Wed. 6: p.m.-7:30 p.m., Tues., Thurs. & Fit 9:00-10:30 a.m. $50 includes class, use of club facilities plus 1 additional day to use the Club. Don't miss this great opportunity to get in shape for the summer - For more information, call 649-6670, 877-5546. complete mental health delivery de-livery system. She hopes to do that by linking up with the Timpanogos Community Mental Health Center. Park City, Nelson said, often becomes a futile escape es-cape hatch for out-of-staters hoping to hide from their problems by coming here. "They have unrealistic ideas about what it should be," she said. "They think they can live in a fantasy world." Single people flock to the area, but the relationships they form are not satisfying. "There are a lot of air-heads around here," she said candidly. can-didly. "Intellectually, the place is a cesspool." Children growing up here get false ideas, too. "They see people playing 365 days a year. They think that's normal," nor-mal," she said. "It doesn't occur to them those people probably saved up all year for that." Children who are less well-off well-off are caught up in the old "keeping up with the Joneses" Jones-es" game. They can't understand under-stand why they can't have the ski clothes or racquetball equipment their friends have. "They form unrealistic goals," said Nelson. "One boy told me he wanted to be the world's greatest surfer." ' New Park City residents have trouble adjusting. "It is difficult for the kids to feel accepted and welcome," she said. "I have seen this problem prob-lem from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. And specialist at the University Hospital, and she and her husband, Robert, were on their way there Feb. 13 when they realized the baby was on the way. But they live in Evanston, Wyoming, and got only as far as Silver Creek Junction when it became apparent they wouldn't get to Salt Lake City in time. An ambulance was sent to the junction, but paramedics suggested the parents go to the clinic for the birth. Minutes Min-utes after they reached the health center, Dr. Thomas Schwenk delivered the tiny baby. Dr. Robert Winn then began stabilization proce-. dures, since the infant had no spontaneous heartbeat or breathing. A helicopter equipped with a life support system and the Intermountain Newborn Intensive In-tensive Care Unit Team landed in the Holiday Village Mall parking lot and whisked David and Dr. Winn down to the University of Utah Hospital. Hos-pital. "It was scary," Mrs. Petereit Pe-tereit said. "We weren't sure if he'd make it, since they said his chances were slim. But he was in intensive care for two-and-a-half months. It was depressing to go visit the parents are having a hard time too." On the other end of the spectrum are the old-timers. The 'rapid growth alienates them, Nelson said, and many of their friends have left town to escape it. They are part of a lonely minority. Nelson's clientele ranges from the welfare recipients to the very wealthy. Few of them, however, are over 50. "The majority are from 25 to 40. There's a lot of divorced, single people, a lot going through a mid-life crisis." To hear Nelson describe the local mental health problems, pro-blems, you would assume the Prevention Center is primarily pri-marily a counseling service. But it's not. "Technically, we are a substance-abuse center, because be-cause our major funding comes from the State Division Divi-sion of Alcohol and Drugs." The Center offers counseling, counsel-ing, but its main job is preventative education-speaking education-speaking to schools and public pub-lic groups on the dangers of drugs and booze. Substance-abuse is a major ma-jor problem in Park City. "Drugs and liquor are taken as a common, everyday thing, so people tend to go all the way with them," she said. Summit County as a whole has the highest alcohol sales per capita in the state. But substance-abuse is only a symptom, Nelson said. "It's tied to a lot of other problems, and when him without being able to bring him home. But he's a big boy now." When David returned to the clinic last week, he weighed in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. "It's really exciting," said Dr. Winn, noting that David not only was the smallest, but the only baby born in the clinic to date. "I can't believe to look at him now that he was that small. And many of the concerns they had in the hospital about him didn't pan out, so I think he will do quite well." Dr. Winn said David still is having a - few- problems," "which is common with babies ba-bies born so early with severe se-vere lung problems." So he will need to see a doctor on a regular basis while he's recuperating. re-cuperating. "And we were so pleased with the clinic, that we'll be taking him there," Mrs. Petereit Pe-tereit said. "He's doing real good now, and it depends on his progress as to how often we'll have to go to the clinic." Nearly every out-of-stater has an unusual story to tell about how they came to Park City. But few can claim to have come here to be born. PROSPECTOR SQUARE ATHLETIC CLUB people don't get help for these problems, then they turn to abusing a sub stance," she added. "And by that, I mean many kinds of substances smoking too much, over-eating, etc." In theory, the Prevention Center only has the capacity to serve 22 clients. It is now helping 30, said Nelson. "We give it our best shot," she said. "At the least, we find an hour somehow for each person." Nelson is assisted by clinical social worker Robert Pingree, and a psychologist psy-chologist from the. Timpanogos Tim-panogos Center, Dr. Derek Timms. Nelson said she hopes to develop a complete mental health service by negotiating a contract with the Timpanogos. Tim-panogos. Under that arrangement, ar-rangement, the money she normally receives through the state would be legally re-routed to come from Timpanogos. Tim-panogos. Park City's center would become a satellite "but we would try and remain re-main autonomous," she added. add-ed. The center would have better access to a medical doctor and a psychologist. "If we were fully independent, indepen-dent, I would have to pay around $50,000 a year for one of them, which is practically my whole budget," Nelson said Timpanogos also would issue billings and perform other administrative tasks for the Prevention Center. Nelson said the center could offer complete service in three important areas; outpatient service, where the client walks in off the street and gets help; services providing pro-viding information and referral; re-ferral; and a follow-up service ser-vice that checks the client's progress at regular intervals. inter-vals. They would offer increased in-creased service in individual therapy, family counseling, marriage counseling and support groups. (The center currently runs a group for single people.) rY I Capson rjf Ywts Morris 11 Iftiri McCombE 1800 Park Avenue, P.O. Box 1921, Park City, Utah 84060 (801 ) 649-8601 'r:. M AvVl DESIGN COALITION PENTHOUSE UNIT NO. 402 I IVsf I 1,344 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths. This unit is ser- JA hi It I viced by an elevator and two separate stair systems. The unit is Isjll If u Jt J air conditioned, gas heated. The kitchen is equipped with " ( refridgerator, range, dishwasher, disposal, trash compactor, S tvV' f 2$W noo,'uPs 'or washer and dryer. Special features include super 5 W" ltl 7Avfv V'6W ' Sl' moun'ains' custom interiors by Design !; Coalition, including carpet, wallcoverings, window coverings, ; :;- . y!&y$k I 'urn"ureandaccessories Must seetoapprecia,e $215 000 I LrAV HISTORIC kXDLLR MIPN SI U1ET 'Pfl- Utah MOTHERLODE CONDOMINIUMS IN u U) ' -)!iM 11 v HEART OF HISTORIC PARK CITY MV l AULA 3 units left. Each luxury condo unit has the following amenities: heatilator wood-burning fireplaces, gas appliances, Kitchen-Aid dishwashers, trash compactors and disposals, wet bars, stained glass, brass plumbing fixtures in baths, claw-foot ""J tubs, oak cabinetry, complete furniture package, 2X6 exterior Jill wall construction, insulation exceeding code, double and triple insulated glass, outdoor spa common to all units. D-$175,000 E-$200,000 H-$200,000 Nelson's four sources of funding are the state, the county, federal Title 20 funds, and the city. The Utah government is not only her biggest regular contributor, also is offering a bonus this year. Money totalling $1,500,000. raised from an increase in sales tax for beer, is being distributed to counties to finance intoxication intoxica-tion therapy programs. The money is given by districts, and our District 3-Summit, Wasatch, and Utah Countiesmust Coun-tiesmust decide between themselves how to divide the pie. (Nelson said all three county commissions must agree on a settlement.) She figured that the Summit-Wasatch Summit-Wasatch County share might amount to $17,000. More good news: For the 1981-82 fiscal year, she said, her Title 20 money has dou 3" - 5" Blooming Cacti Now Available High light Evenly moist for rapid growth 610 Main St. No. 202 Behind Gift Store bled tii $1(1.011(1. " : :. ; nized our need." Nelson explained. ex-plained. Nelson wants to reassure those people who feel shy about walking in off the street to talk about their troubles. "We purposedly have a male and a female therapist," she said. They can meet a client in their offices on Main Street, in the Meadowview Medical Center, Cen-ter, Kamas. Coalv ille, or any where informal the client wants to talk. Services are confidential, and a client's file is locked away for privacy. pri-vacy. Clients are charged on a sliding fee, depending on the ability to pay. "But if I had to make a choice," Nelson said, "I would rather a person didn't pay anything, rather than have him go without the help he needs." Design Coalition Bldg. 649-6907 Tlie Newspaper Thursday, April 23. 1981 Page A9 ROCKY MT. CHRISTMAS GIFTS Will close for the Spring and reopen in July. I V 'A Many thanks to all the local customers who supported us during our first SUMMR IS LOOKING GOOD AT jnn Sports and Western fashions and footwear is arriving daily. in 1700 PARK AVE. OPEN 8 8 season. DAILY 6494949 |