BMC Renovates Psychiatric Units
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The Jones 2 renovation was recently completed. Patients will move on Tuesday. |
The organization just completed renovating the Jones 2 ward, which serves patients suffering from a number of mental and behavioral ailments such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Next, the Jones 3 floor will receive a similar renovation. The McGee unit for substance abuse was renovated three years ago. Together, the three renovations are eyed to provide patients with a more comfortable in-patient stay.
"We're really emphasizing our engagement with our patients," Dr. Alex Sabo, chairman of the department, said on Thursday. "The design of these units are to be comforting."
The renovations balance personal privacy and breaking further away from the institutional feel to provide a comfortable and calm experience. Meanwhile, patient safety is improved through a series of technological upgrades.
"These are fantastic features that will help us keep patients safe that much easier," said Robert Crossman, who works on the unit. "A lot of patients respect these safety precautions."
The first safety and privacy feature is right at the entrance to the unit. A nutritionists can enter a locked room to deliver meals and when they leave, a separate door opens to the dining and common area. Inside the unit there are multiple quiet rooms abutting nurses stations with windows peering in to keep an eye on the patients in there. And there are larger common areas for group therapy and other activities.
In the patient units, which number four single rooms and eight doubles on Jone 2, each unit has a private bathroom. While the bathroom gives a patient more comfort, the locking mechanism is linked to a timer so nurses can be on the lookout if the patients has been in there too long. Each room is climate controlled by staff, which wasn't the case before, and the window shades can all be controlled in the room by the patient; again, that wasn't possible before. The paints and floor colors were all chosen to be soothing and comforting and the lighting is turned a little lower. Some rooms are ADA compliant, making it easier for those with physical disabilities.
"We generally try to maintain a comfortable climate," Crossman said.
Outside of the bathroom door is a pressure sensor that alerts nurses if a patients hangs something from the door and adds weight. Those alarms can't be turned off unless a staff member checks on the patient inside the room. Hooks to hang items are rubber and can't hold a significant amount of weight and the doors are able to open both ways to keep a patient from barricading the door.
"This is a significant investment," said BMC's Chief Operating Officer Diane Kelly. "This is a time when many health care systems are backing away from mental health."
The units hadn't been updated in some 20 years, Kelly said, so it was time for a renovation. The plans help build on the hospital's goal of being more proactive in providing patient care, Sabo said.
The renovation has taken a year and patients from Jones 2 were placed in the McGee ward while McGee patients were treated in one of the medical units. On Oct. 20, Jones 2 will open up and will be home to the Jones 3 patients. In the late winter and early spring, the Jones 3 renovation will be done and the patients will return to the respected wards.
In total the three units will serve 61 patients at a time, which includes additional five additional units the hospital added to Jones 3 when North Adams closed Greylock Pavilion.
Sabo said there is a great need for behavioral health not just in Berkshire County but nationwide.
Some 25 percent of people in America suffer from mental health or substance abuse issues and 10 percent of Massachusetts residents suffer from substance abuse, he said. Sabo said the majority of suicides in Massachusetts are by people who never saw mental health professionals.
"Over the last 10 years, there has been a realization that mental health is part of physical health," Sabo said. "Behavioral health is very important to the overall health of patients and overall health care costs."
Oftentimes, patients have a number of ailments both physically and mentally, Sabo said. BMC's behavioral unit is building rapport with primary care doctors and other support organizations to collaborate and share expertise on cases. Inside of the units, a staff from an array of disciplines see themselves as "co-investigators" to get to the root causes of many of the behavior and mental issues.
"It is a team effort in addressing mental health," Sabo said.
The two Jones floors see somewhere around 1,300 patients a year, averaging stays of six days. The McGee unit sees some 1,800 patients a year. The majority of the patients voluntarily sign themselves into the units, looking for hospital staff to partner with in solving the problem.
"They get better care when we are working as partners," Sabo said.
Tags: BMC, hospital, mental health,
