KINGSTON, N.Y. (January 23, 2017) — HealthAlliance
of the Hudson Valley (HealthAlliance), a member of the Westchester
Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), and the Institute for Family
Health, a federally qualified health center, are working together on a
federally sponsored pilot project to see if patient follow-up reduces
Ulster County's suicide rate.
HealthAlliance and the Institute's Kingston Behavioral Health Center
are pioneering efforts to provide structured follow-up support to
patients who had suicidal thoughts before being discharged from the
Psychiatric Emergency Department located at HealthAlliance Hospital:
Broadway Campus, in Kingston. The joint project is one of only two in
New York to include structured follow-ups with patients who had suicidal
thoughts before being discharged from psychiatric emergency rooms, the
New York State Department of Health says. All other follow-up programs
limit their support to people who had called suicide hotlines.
"This project is groundbreaking and very much needed here in Ulster
County — and, frankly, everywhere — because suicide has devastating
consequences for individuals, families, communities and society at
large," said Sharon Miller, Psychiatric Emergency Department Manager,
HealthAlliance Hospital: Broadway Campus, a licensed clinical social
worker who coordinates the hospital's participation in the project.
Under the project, an Institute-trained clinician provides risk
assessments and other enhanced follow-up services by phone or in person
within 48 hours of discharge from the HealthAlliance Psychiatric
Emergency Department.
"The follow-up then continues, based on the patient's needs," said
Kingston Behavioral Health Center Associate Director Margaret Stahlin, a
licensed mental health counselor. "The services can include
appointments at Institute health centers in Kingston, Ellenville and New
Paltz and other assistance, such as transportation to appointments."
"We also work with patients to improve their coping
strategies, reduce conditions that increase the risk for suicide,
including means of self-harm, and ultimately help them restore hope for a
better life," Stahlin said.
Longer-term services consist of psychological counseling,
medications, family support programs and addiction treatment.
HealthAlliance offers a comprehensive inpatient residential
addiction-recovery program at its Mary's Avenue Campus in Kingston and a
complete range of outpatient addiction recovery management programs at
satellite treatment centers in Kingston and Saugerties. All programs are
led by HealthAlliance's world-class experts in the field.
The HealthAlliance-Institute pilot project is important because many
suicide deaths occur among people recently discharged from care,
officials of both institutions said.
"Suicide prevention must be a core responsibility of healthcare
systems," said Institute Director of Suicide Prevention Sarah Bernes, a
public health professional and licensed master's-level social worker.
"The structured follow-up services we're providing in Ulster County are
crucial and can be lifesaving."
The three-year suicide-prevention collaboration between
HealthAlliance and the Institute is funded by the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services. Researchers from Columbia University's
Department of Psychiatry, another partner, are evaluating the success of
the project as it progresses and is reporting results to SAMHSA.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide or is in an
emotional crisis, help is available. The National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255), is available 24 hours a day to connect
individuals in need of help with local resources, including the
HealthAlliance Psychiatric Emergency Department.