CLEVELAND — The Cuyahoga County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board has thrown its weight behind St. Vincent Charity Medical Center's psychiatric emergency department (PED) for the last 20 years, but when the Cleveland hospital announced last month it would be restructuring and discontinuing inpatient medical, psychiatric, and substance addiction care, it was unclear what would become of the PED.
Following talks between the leadership of St. Vincent and the leadership of the ADAMHS Board, we now have our answer: The county says the department will remain operational at least into next year, approving roughly $4.4 million in funds to keep the facility running. Patients will still remain under 23-hour observational care, and will now be transferred to other area hospitals if they need additional services.
"The ADAMHS Board has provided support and funding for the Psychiatric Emergency Department at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center (SVCMC) for decades," ADAMHS Board CEO Scott S. Osiecki said in a statement. "This support and funding was never in jeopardy as the PED is a vital part of the crisis continuum of care in Cuyahoga County."
St. Vincent's PED is one of just two places in Ohio currently offering 24-hour psychiatric care, serving more than 3,500 patients annually. The department offers trained psychiatrists and practitioners at all hours, allowing those struggling with mental health or addiction to receive immediate help during times of crisis.
St. Vincent Charity Medical Center confirmed this past summer it would be undergoing its "next evolution" by phasing out inpatient care, citing financial concerns and changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital will instead become an "ambulatory health services provider," focusing on things such as urgent care, mental health and addiction services (some outpatient), and specialty clinics.
Dr. Adnan Tahir, president and CEO of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, offered this pledge to the ADAMHS Board:
"St. Vincent Charity Medical Center is committed to continuing to provide service in our Psychiatric Emergency Room beyond our transition to an Ambulatory model on November 15, 2022, and into the calendar year 2023. We are currently pursuing transfer agreements with other hospitals for patients who will need an admission."
While the center plans to renew its certification with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Cuyahoga County and St. Vincent will likely reevaluate the status of the PED sometime next year.
In other behavioral health news, Ohio Guidestone recently received nearly $8 million in two separate federal grants to develop Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHC) in both western Cuyahoga County and the four-county region in Northwest Ohio (Williams, Fulton, Defiance, Henry). An important feature of the CCBHC model is that it requires crisis services that are available around the clock, and the centers must provide a comprehensive array of behavioral health services so that people who need care are not caught trying to piece together the behavioral health support they need across multiple providers.