CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

2022 will see advances in how mental health services are offered in NH

Foster's Daily Democrat - 1/7/2022

Jan. 7—New Hampshire is looking to improve the way it delivers mental health services in 2022, with several new initiatives ready to launch.

"I think the state has done a good job getting all the hospitals and mental health centers to work together in the past couple of years," said Justin Looser, HCA Behavioral Health marketing director. "It has been a quiet move on their part and since we all share the same issues surrounding mental health, I'd say it is an important step."

One state initiative was the purchase of Hampstead Hospital announced last fall. The former private psychiatric and substance use facility is expected to offer much-needed beds, particularly for juvenile cases.

In October, the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee gave Gov. Chris Sununu and the Department of Health and Human Services the green light to use $15.1 million in federal money to purchase the 111-bed Hampstead Hospital to serve as a children's inpatient psychiatric facility. The Executive Council gave its approval soon after and the new state facility is expected to open this year.

"We have always had trouble finding sufficient beds for children who need them," said Dennis Walker, vice president of clinical operations for emergency services and intake at Seacoast Mental Health Center. "COVID has made this so much worse. We see kids (and adults) in emergency rooms waiting for a bed for days, sometimes for weeks or longer."

"COVID is back again, in a bigger, different way," Looser said. "As hospital systems, we are all struggling with how to handle this crisis."

Walker said he hopes the use of Hampstead Hospital will allow for more available beds, but possibly also for expansion of available programs.

"This could be huge for the state," Walker said. "It's exciting. Right now, they are working on staffing, a problem everywhere in health care right now. This is such a big issue, and again, COVID is not making it any easier."

Looser said Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Frisbie Memorial Hospital of Rochester and Parkland Medical Center of Derry, all HCA properties, have always had good working relationships with SMHC and with the state hospital.

"My hope is this move helps to streamline care and the utilization of needed beds," he said.

Seacoast Mental Health Center has locations in Portsmouth and Exeter, and has an embedded presence at Exeter Hospital. Walker said the proximity of that location to Hampstead Hospital is something they are looking to as a solution for space needs.

"At Exeter Hospital, we take care of the kids who come in needing beds," Walker said "It's really tough. They can't leave the emergency department until we have a bed, and we often do not have one. It's a difficult thing to tell kids, to tell their parents."

One way mental health professionals work to address the bed issue is to find ways to avoid a trip to the emergency room for those in crisis. As of Jan. 1, the rapid response mobile crisis vans went live, 10 vans, one for each region of the state.

The NH Community Behavioral Health Association is an organization comprised of the ten community mental health centers throughout New Hampshire. These centers will each have a crisis response team.

"There were three existing ones," Walker said. "Seven more have been added as of the beginning of the year."

Looser said his team and all the local mental health centers have been in discussions about the best way to use this new resource.

"I think it can be a great intervention step before there is a larger crisis," Looser said. "I think it allows for better care. The assessments can determine if there is a need for a bed and, if there is, I think it will offer a smoother handoff. It might help to avoid the emergency room wait times."

All crisis calls will be taken through Beacon Health at 1-833-710-6477. Walker said the service will route calls to the proper region.

"They have their own clinicians," he said. "If they can't resolve a situation, they can deploy one of the vans to where it is needed."

Each van team will be comprised of a master's degree-level clinician and a peer support person. Walker will be one of the clinicians for the Seacoast region.

"The people on the teams will be experts in assessment and crisis intervention," Walker said. "The goal of the service is to see if we can resolve the situation where they are, by going to them. It could be in a person's home, at school, in a coffee shop. We will go wherever."

The response units are funded by the state. Walker said state officials are looking to change the way they deliver funding for mental health services, a move he applauds.

"The old models were geared more toward agencies, toward hospitals, and that is not always the best answer," he said. "The state now wants us to be out more in the community and most of us believe that is a better approach."

While it is not yet accessible nationally, the 988 mental health phone exchange is very exciting. Expected to go live in New Hampshire this July, the phone number will work like 9-1-1 does for emergencies, but is geared toward connecting a person having a mental health crisis directly to the most appropriate service near them which can offer help.

Looser said the goal is to put people struggling with a mental health crisis in the right hands as quickly as possible.

"It is a national suicide hotline, so the great thing is everyone will call the same number, a number we can all remember," said Walker. "By calling, a person will be connected to an access point that works for them. They can call from home, from anywhere."

The 988 exchange will be easy to use. Looser said it offers a direct line to the care people need.

"This is a huge undertaking and it will take time to figure out all the players," Looser said. "We are looking at overtaking many years of not addressing this need as a country. My hope is it will streamline communication and care as we figure out all the people who need to be a part of this."

"This is incredibly important," said Walker. "In an urgent crisis, time is very important. No longer will people have to search for a number in order to find help."

___

(c)2022 the Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.)

Visit the Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover, N.H.) at www.fosters.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.