A mental health care provider is moving toward opening two new residential treatment facilities in Poulsbo and Silverdale in April.
AMFM Health, which operates similar mental health treatment centers in California and Virginia, plans to launch two Kitsap residential homes, both with eight beds: one on Newberry Hill Road and the other near the Poulsbo’s College Marketplace development, anchored by Walmart.
Adult clients enter homes voluntarily and the average stay is around 45 days, said Angelelena May, CEO of AMFM Healthcare Washington. All patients must have a mental health diagnosis, such as schizophrenia, anxiety or depression, but most also have a substance use diagnosis, he said. Large homes sit on large private expanses, with space for outdoor activities and treatment.
“We found that in a smaller setting, clients can really build a community with each other and can support each other during their recovery,” May said. “Some organizations will do larger units or campus-like settings, and that may be less intensive. I really understand when we have smaller groups and smaller clinical groups, people really build trust with each other, they can open up, the staff is constant, so it’s a smaller treatment team that clients work with individually. They will really be able to do intensive work in a short time. “
Typically, patients would come to one of the homes after a hospital stay or after passing through the Kitsap Mental Health Crisis Triage Center, May said, noting that the residential program serves to support people outside the hospital, helping to ease the burden on that system.
In the homes, clients will have a full clinical program with 24/7 staff attention and access to a therapist and counselors for substance use, psychiatric treatment, and medication administration.
“What we see is a cycle between stabilization, going to the hospital for a couple of days, maybe a week, and then coming home and maybe there are different environmental stressors or there is no 24/7 support. of the week they need, ”May said. . “Usually they will end up back in the hospital setting or in a crisis situation again. This is really to provide that middle ground, where clients are stable, but have the ability to access their therapist, practically on call, but they have therapy three times a week, psychiatry weekly, and then clinical groups, six to eight hours a day. day”.
May said the facility will host community open houses ahead of the openings, which are tentatively scheduled for April 4.
AMFM Healthcare launched a telehealth program called “Mission Connection” for Washington patients in October and is also moving toward opening a facility in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood. May said she could see the provider expand to open an outpatient center in Kitsap, as well as launch more residential homes where there is a need.
“We plan to expand,” he said, “and we are fluid and open to the direction in which we will expand based on where we see the greatest need.”
Nathan Pilling is a reporter covering Bainbridge Island, North Kitsap, and Washington State Ferries for the Kitsap Sun. You can reach him at 360-792-5242, [email protected], or on Twitter at @KSNatePilling.
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