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2004 Press Releases
Senior Behavioral Health Unit
Earns
National Distinction
ROME
– Rome Memorial Hospital’s Senior Behavioral Health Unit
(SBHU) earned the Horizon Mental Health 2004 National
Clinical Program of the Year award in recognition of the
program’s clinical excellence.
Located on the second floor of the hospital, the 11-bed
SBHU is a secure therapeutic environment that provides
behavioral health care for seniors who have depression,
anxiety, dementia and other acute illnesses.
Competing against 121 adult behavioral health programs,
the SBHU was evaluated against several indicators
including patient outcomes, discharge planning,
continuous quality improvement, staff training and
performance, and patient satisfaction.
“This award is meaningful to our unit because it
recognizes the clinical work that we do,” said Program
Director JoAnn Wolcott. “People come to us when they
are depressed or experiencing disruptive behaviors and
when they leave their mental health is improved.”
The SBHU collects clinical data to ensure that outcomes
are quantifiable and compares them to national
benchmarks to continually improve the program. “The
data demonstrates measurable improvement in our patients
and augments the anecdotal evidence from the patients
and families who tell us they like our program.”
“Rome’s outcome measurements are outstanding,” said
Patricia Kelly, MS, RN, Horizon regional director,
clinical support services. “Compared to all other
programs that participate in the outcomes study, Rome
had the greatest level of patient improvement in
patient-reported depression from admission to
discharge.”
“Rome earned higher improvement scores in several other
major categories as well, and for the last three
quarters, 100% of patients would recommend the program
to family members or friends who needed similar
treatment,” Kelly said.
For the 12-month period, the unit’s continuous quality
improvement efforts were successful in preventing falls
and medication errors. “In a geriatric psychiatric
program, there is a higher risk of falls because elderly
patients can be more fragile and disoriented. Many
patients are also adjusting to new medications,” Kelly
explained. “The SBHU had no medication errors and the
fall rate was .001 per 1000 patient days, which is
incredible.”
Kelly also praised the program for providing two tracks
of therapy and activities to meet patient’s different
cognitive abilities. “Everyone is kept active and
engaged,” she said.
“We’re very proud and very happy that we were able to
recognize Rome in this way because the staff deserves
it. They worked very hard and have an excellent
program,” Kelly said noting that it’s unusual for such a
young program to win this distinction. The SBHU opened
in December 2001.
“The exceptional clinical outcomes demonstrate the
excellence of the entire staff,” said Wolcott. “The
outcomes are the result of a lot of teamwork from
multiple disciplines, including excellent support
staff. Without them, we couldn’t run a good clinical
program.”
“Our staff is dedicated to excellence because they know
the impact that they can have upon patients and their
families,” Wolcott said. “We receive many letters and
cards with messages of appreciation, like this one: ‘We
are so happy and thankful to have Mom back to herself.
She’s doing so well. Your staff was great. We tell
everyone it’s like a miracle! Keep up the good work.
All of you are very appreciated.’”
The Senior Behavioral Health Unit can take admissions
seven days a week, 24 hours a day to meet the needs of
seniors in crisis. For more information, please call
338-7399. |
