PC Minutes Format - Mental Health Association of Portland



Unity Center for Behavioral Health

Advocate and Peer Forum

Date: April 23, 2015

|Attended: |Chris Farentinos, Tony Melaragno, Colleen Welsh, Cindy Scherba, Katie Lucia, Rath Ben, Jeremy Nguyen, Scott Snedecor, Patricia Day Teneyck, Harold “Bear” Cubbedge, Myron Welbes, Lacey Welbes, |

| |Sylma Zinyeser, Paul Priest, Rob Johnson, Fumi Nishimoto, Ally Linfoot, Lakeesha Dumas, Shawn Bower, Kris Moore, Janie Marsh, Christine Lau, Kevin Fitts, Rick Ralston |

|Topic |Discussion |

|Update on Unity Center for |Unity Center for Behavioral Health was formed by Legacy Health, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland Adventist, and Kaiser Permanente following years of conversations |

|Behavioral Health |about how to provide the best services for behavioral health patients. When a facility became available, we started discussing how to do a joint project. |

| |The organizations wanted to find a way to provide services for people with behavioral health needs that was an alternative to going to hospital emergency departments. They found a|

| |successful model in Alameda, CA. Their data showed 75% of the patients were able to avoid hospitalization and return to their community within 24 hours. They also found a way to |

| |sustain the model and do it using a very caring model…..recliners, calming rooms, patients interacting with staff a lot. The staff say their #1 job is interaction with the |

| |patients there. |

| |At Alameda, the police no longer transported patients to the psychiatric emergency service (PES). They transferred custody of the patient from the police to the ambulance. The |

| |decision was then made in the field if patient will be taken to the medical emergency department or the psychiatric emergency department. |

| |The group has also been looking at other models around the country. |

| |Unity will be both an inpatient psychiatric hospital with 79 beds for adults and 22 beds for kids. Most of the beds will be single-occupancy. Will also have a PES (psychiatric |

| |emergency service). |

| |Emphasis will be placed on transitions of care. We envision some community services having on-site space to facilitate a rapid transition back into the community. We want to be |

| |focused on recovery. |

| |Target to open is November 2016 |

|Thoughts and concerns from the |Providence’s Crisis Triage Center (CTC) didn’t work due primarily to funding problems. |

|group about Unity Center |Transitions of Care: Could the focus on transitions of care impede people who might not need the clinical behavioral health services ? |

| |Co-morbidities: Will there be an emphasis on holistic health rather than just physical care. |

| |Support for voluntary care rather than just acute care. Need strong training of staff to balance needs between choice versus restraint |

| |Is their enough support in the community to allow 75% to return to the community within 24 hours? |

| |Can patients get pre-admitted? |

| |Will there be enough beds? |

| |Will Unity provide culturally specific care? Will language barriers be addressed? |

| |Specific services for patients with co-occuring substance use needs? |

| |Detox center? |

| |Too much reliance on medications, especially for patients with substance use needs? |

| |Coordination with homeless and housing services? |

| |Peer support should follow housing services |

| |Good neighbor agreements with neighborhood associations? |

| |Funding for community partners? |

| |Peer support funding and billing? |

| |Consolidation of beds from multiple organizations – feels institutional |

| |Long holds in emergency rooms. Will people still go to hospital emergency departments or go straight to the psychiatric emergency department? |

| |Will CATC still be funded? |

| |Coordination with Providence? |

|Hopes |Have peers and family members to support both patients and families |

| |Patients will be highly encouraged to fill out Release of Information for family members, particularly family members providing housing |

| |Treatment and Transition will begin at the time patient walks through the door |

| |All roles working together |

| |Attention to systemic trauma |

|Transportation |Group comments on the idea to have police transfer custody of the patient in the field from police to ambulance so the ambulance can transport the patient to the PES |

| |Commissioner Amanda Fritz supports the idea |

| |The State can make a rule change to facilitate this rule change |

| |AMR: dependent on the patient’s condition, if patient is combative, police might stay on scene to assist with safety and security. The hope would be to seat-belt the patient onto|

| |the ambulance gurney. If the patient is combative and cannot be de-escalated, patient might be placed into restraints for transport. |

| |There will be 24/7 security at the entrance to the PES |

| |Could we have peer support specialists available to ride with patients in the ambulance? |

| |Will Unity Security be specially trained in helping patients de-escalate (special training and protocols will be provided to all involved |

| |How does this connect with Project Respond? Currently, Proect Respond works closely with AMR and the partner organizations |

| |Protocols for patients under a warrant? We are working closely with law enforcement. Will peers be allowed to accompany the patient? |

|Community Advisory Board |Unity wants to create a Community Advisory Council. If you are interested, send Chris Farentinos an email at CFarenti@ expressing your interest |

| |The commitment would be to meet once a month for one and a half hours. |

| |Chris will work to have a diverse Board |

|Building the Facility |Architects are being worked with right now. They are a local firm but they also hired an expert on building psychiatric hospitals. There are currently lots of discussions then |

| |they will start doing sketches. |

| | A big Thanks to all for taking the time to attend and provide input. |

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