Geriatric psychiatric unit opens at area hospital
HALEYVILLE – Officials at Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville gathered to celebrate the opening of the new inpatient geriatric psychiatric unit with an open house and ribbon cutting on Thursday.
LakePoint, A Behavioral Health Program for Seniors, will offer comprehensive mental health services based on dignity and respect for seniors 55 and older. Inpatient programs include treatment of depression, suicidal attempts, psychosis, mood disorders, combative disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety-related disorders.
LakePoint will officially open at the hospital on April 18 after over a year of work and planning to get the unit up and running.
“Around a year and a half ago, I talked to corporate officials and we started some strategic planning on how to grow more services in the community,” Lakeland Chief Nursing Officer Amy Roden said. “One program that was mentioned was a geriatric psychiatric unit and there was a need for something like that in the area, so we put a plan together and got the go ahead to start with the project in September of 2010.”
Roden said they did a complete renovation of the second floor’s east wing and it will now house the 9-bed capacity behavioral health unit, which LakePoint program directory and nurse manager Jan Colburn said the area truly needed.
“There is such a strong need for education about Alzheimer’s disease and families of Alzheimer’s patients need that support,” Colburn said.
Colburn has a background in geriatric psychiatric care and said all the staff for the unit has been adequately trained in the area as well.
“We think this unit will be very successful because of the great demand in the area,” Colburn said.
Betty Chesnut, managing director for the Country Cottage assisted living facility in Russellville, was present at the open house and she said because of her job she understood the need for such facilities as LakePoint.
“What’s good about this facility is it helps give families more than one choice for a behavioral center, and it might be closer for some people than other facilities that have the same kind of program,” Chesnut said. “When families of these patients have a long way to go just to visit, it makes it hard for them to get by as often and that is hard on the family and hard on the patient.”
Jim Jeansonne, chief executive officer of Lakeland Community Hospital, said Dr. Curtis Adam would be working with the unit for a couple of months to help the unit get up and running.
“We are excited to celebrate this milestone,” Jeansonne said.
“We appreciate the community support we’ve seen in the last few years and we ask for your continued support in future.”
