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Lost dog once helped man through stroke By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
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Dr. Imran Andrabi, chief operating officer for Mercy, with a rendition of the new $21 million project. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
New center at St. Charles
Mercy invests $21 million for behavioral health By Tammy Walro Press Staff Writer twalro@presspublications.com “A very exciting day,” – that’s how Mercy and Catholic Health Partners officials described the formal announcement on Feb. 17 of a new $21 million Behavioral Health Institute that will be constructed on the campus of Mercy St. Charles Hospital in Oregon. The two-story building, which will connect to the main hospital, will offer a range of inpatient, partial-hospitalization and outpatient mental and behavioral health services in one location. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2015, at which time inpatient psychiatric services at St. Charles and Mercy St. Vincent will transition to the new facility. “As healthcare transforms and adapts to new models of care, we have to make sure that we are transforming along with it, so that we are proactive in our change and not reacting,” Dr. Imran Andrabi, chief operating officer and president/chief network integration officer for Mercy, said at a press conference. “Mercy has been on a journey, along with Catholic Health Partners, to make sure we create an environment in which we can provide the best quality of care with the highest safety to our patients and the community, and to do that while lowering costs at the same time. “A critical component of this transformation is creating ‘centers of excellence,’ at which we can offer access to a range
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Overall, the project will be a very good boost for the local trades.
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George Decker, 80, has been looking for his dog, a three year old Yorkie mix, since it slipped away from him as he was taking it to the groomer’s at Coy and Navarre Avenue on Feb. 11. Decker is desperate to find the dog, which helped him recover from a stroke last year. “She’s my life,” said Decker, who Little Bitz has circulated fliers of the dog in hopes of finding it. “Next to my wife, she’s the most precious thing in my life. I raised her since she was a baby.” The dog, called “Little Bitz,” was a present from his daughter, Carol. Decker had taken the 10 lb. dog to Nose to Tail grooming at 3308 Navarre Avenue for a 9:30 a.m. appointment on Feb. 11. But the dog, wearing a pink wool coat with a red collar, made a dash for it when Decker opened the car door in the groomer’s parking lot. Little Bitz, with its pink leash trailing behind, crossed Navarre Avenue and ended up near the BP Gas Station. Amie Brodie, owner of Nose to Tail, said she was grooming a dog when she glanced out the window and saw Little Bitz rush by. After safely securing the dog she had been grooming into a crate, she ran down Navarre in the direction Little Bitz was heading. “But by that time I did not see her anymore,” said Brodie. “A woman stopped in her car and said to me that someone had just picked up the dog at the corner of Navarre and Coy. But she didn’t give me any more information. So I just kept running. By the time I got down there, though,
of in-depth services to patients and their families in one location,” he said. “It’s our great pleasure to develop our first Center of Excellence with experts from Catholic Health Partners Behavioral Health here at St. Charles.” The “Center of Excellence” model fits in with Mercy’s and Catholic Health Partners’ mission of treating the whole person – mind, body and spirit, throughout the whole lifespan, according to Dr. Donna Markham, president, Behavioral Health Institute, Catholic Health Partners. “Behavioral health is a critical component in one’s life and well-being, and needs to be integrated into the full continuum of care,” she said. “Today, healthcare professionals know the strong connections between mental and physical health – people with behavioral health issues are at higher risk of developing chronic physical conditions, and people with chronic physical health issues are at higher risk of developing behavioral health conditions.
“As the largest health system in Ohio, we recognize this link and are taking action to ensure that behavioral health concerns are addressed appropriately, at the right time and with the right treatment options available,” Dr. Markham said. “Patients and their families deserve nothing less.” The new facility’s comprehensive approach to behavioral health that doesn’t currently exist in the market, Dr. Markham said. “CHP and Mercy are leading the change throughout the state and locally,” Dr. Markham said. “We have two facilities that serve behavioral health patients – St. Vincent’s and St. Charles. Both of those facilities serve acute care patients alone. We do not have a continuum of care at either site. “After a lot of engagement with market leaders and taking a look at what seemed to be the best approach, we determined it would really be in the best interest of our patients if we could establish one comprehensive institute that would serve the needs of the patients in this community. “With that, we considered, where could we put a 62,000-square-foot facility that would be proximate to a hospital because of the medical needs that surface in behavioral health,” she said. “After considerable research, the determination was made that it would be on the St. Charles campus. “The new facility will offer acute care, which serves patients in their crisis time, when they need a safe environment to overcome the most critical stage of their illness,” (Continued on page 2)
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