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Show Hospital offers behavior health unit A Behavior Health Unit will open at the American Fork Hospital Dec. 3, according to Craig M. Smedley, administrator. Goal of the new unit is to assure each patient individual treatment plans including preventative, diagnostic, rehabilitative, and therapeutic services to promote maximum health and well being, Mr. Smedley said. In addition to the seven-bed inpatient in-patient unit, out-patient services will be offered. Plans also call for the offering of several community education programs in such areas as communication skills, parenting skills, stress management and relaxation techniques. Deborah Sartain, social worker at American Fork Hospital, said purpose of the new unit is to enhance the quality of life and provide for the treatment of the 'whole person.' Patients treated in the unit will include those suffering from depression, anxiety, coping with grief , or needing pain control. Mr. Smedley said although the hospital has treated this type of patient previously, now they will be located in a specific unit in order to provide privacy. Patients will be referred to the unit by their personal physicians or by the admitting psychiatrists. The treatment team will include the patient's personal physician, consulting psychiatrists and psychologists, the patient and their family, social worker, professional nursing staff, recreational therapist,' occupational therapist, physical therapists, and registered dieticians. Three new doctors have joined the hospital staff as consultants in the program, Mrs. Sartain said. Delbert Goates, M.D., Joyce Oates, M.D., and Tony LaPray, Eed. (Educational Phychologist) will work with the patients, she said. Suzanne Algaier, R.N., a Psychiatric Nurse, is Head Nurse of the new unit. Dale Eckley, R.N., Assistant Director of Nursing, will oversee the program. All nurses working in the unit are trained psychiatric nurses. Mrs. Sartain said the team will work together in the individualized treatment program. Once released from the hospital, the patients' personal physician will provide ongoing medical care. All patients admitted to the unit will receive an evaluation by the clinical staff. The entire staff, the patient and the family will define a plan of therapy and set goals for the treatment. The patient will receive individual therapy several times a week and group therapy daily. Emphasis will be on changing behaviors and , learning new skills. The staff will also work with family members in provision of marriage and family counseling so treatment can be reinforced at home. All services are completely confidential, Mrs. Sartain emphasized. em-phasized. Patients in the unit will participate par-ticipate in morning exercise, meditation, study time, group therapy, and individual therapy as well as various workshops including relaxation workshops, recreational therapy, aerobics, individual therapy, family group therapy, awareness programs, music therapy, coping skills, parenting workshops, etc. Different workshops are scheduled for each day of the week except Saturday and Sunday. Although the program currently is designed for teenagers and adults, younger patients can be also be treated on the unit. Most insurance plans will cover at least a portion of the cost, Mrs. Sartain noted. She stressed treatment plans will be individual according to the needs of the patient. |