Four County, Anthem team up for mental health crisis care units

Jun. 30—When COVID-19 hit, mental healthcare providers had to quickly change gears to care for their patients. Most went to telehealth, using Zoom-like apps or phone calls to continue individual and group sessions.

Dr. Carrie Cadwell, CEO at Four County Behavioral Health, said there was already a need to expand mental healthcare beyond its traditional office boundaries before the pandemic.

"We know in physical healthcare if I'm having an urgent need, I actually don't even need to go to an emergency room, I can go to an urgent care unit," she said. "We don't have that in behavioral health."

A recent $150,000 grant from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana will help Four County provide such a service by expanding its Logansport Crisis Stabilization Unit.

A Crisis Stabilization Unit is a short-term care option where individuals can come and receive care, staying for a short period of time in an effort to keep problems from escalating to the point of needing inpatient help.

It's a voluntary unit, and the process could take an hour or up to 24 hours. The unit's intention is to help the patient reach and maintain a stable mood and set up appointments for future care.

"We can get care wrapped around them, get them set up and get them back home, back into the community as fast as possible," said Cadwell.

Anthem Behavioral Health Medical Director Dr. Kimberly Maryrose said that in the early days of the pandemic there was a movement to redirect mental health needs from the emergency rooms.

"ERs are necessary but sometimes they aren't the best fit for a behavioral health crisis," she said. "At Anthem we began to think 'what about these crisis stabilization units, would that be able to divert some of these individuals from ERs.' We thought this is something we want to look into and we wanted to find a partner in the community who would be just as interested in this as we are. Happily, Four County had that interest."

The team up between Four County and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield aligns with Indiana's 9-8-8 and Crisis Now systems that provide someone to call, someone to respond and somewhere to go.

Cadwell estimated that Four County provides 280,000 mental health services a year for nearly 8,500 individuals. She said 45-50 percent of them are new patients.

"At some point, 10 years ago, I would say we were serving the same people who were having recurrent issues," she said. "What we are finding over time, more and more people are willing to take that first step in a rural area into mental healthcare," she said. "The single largest game changer is we don't expect all of those people to come to our office."

She said the availability of telehealth services have been part of that increase. There are also options to meet in alternative locations. Cadwell said many in rural communities worry about seeing people they know when they go to a behavioral health center.

She said that the Crisis Stabilization Unit can be especially helpful for those who notice changes in their emotions, increased irritability or if they become withdrawn.

"Here's the great thing about a crisis care unit like this," Cadwell said. "You don't have to know every one of the signs. You just have to be able to say 'hey, I know something could be happening for my loved one; they are going to come in' or 'I'm feeling something is not right. Is this a crisis? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.' Come in.'"

To make an appointment with Four County, call (800) 552-3106. More information about services provided can be found at fourcounty.org.

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