Inpatient Psychiatric Services

Inpatient Psychiatric Services provides 23 acute psychiatric beds, with 4 seclusion rooms and 3 restraint rooms. It is operated on a twenty-four hour basis, accepting admissions from the Psychiatric Emergency Service and the Richmond Crisis Unit. Admission to the inpatient unit is either voluntary or involuntary. The patients admitted involuntarily are those determined to be a danger to self or to others, or to be gravely disabled. These patients are most often admitted on an involuntary status (5150), which is a legal hold, which can ensure their hospitalization for up to a period of 72 hours for crisis stabilization and observation. After this 72 hour hold expires, a psychiatrist can place the patient on an additional 14 day hold (5250), or discharge him/her, according to the psychiatric symptoms they present. The patient on a 5250 hold will be offered the right to petition this hold by means of a Gallinot hearing, to determine the need for continued hospitalization. Staffing by acuity has been instituted in an effort to ensure adequate staffing to minimize violent incidents and to insure the safety of patients, staff, and visitors.

The Inpatient Psychiatric Service serves individuals who suffer from severe and persistent acute mental illness. The patients admitted are adults, eighteen years or older, who have a major psychiatric diagnosis in the acute stage of the illness and dual-diagnosed substance abusers. All practical attempts are made to admit patients on a voluntary status, or to convert involuntary patients to voluntary status, but there are situations where this is not in the best interests of the patient due to safety and welfare considerations.

The Inpatient Psychiatric Service provides a structured environment, which provides for patient safety, including 24-hour nursing care, which focuses on crisis intervention and milieu therapy. A majority of the patients admitted to the inpatient service originate in other institutions or are homeless. Many of our patients are found to have infectious diseases or chronic medical conditions, which are not being treated prior to admission. Often, either due to their extremely compromised mental state or due to their homeless situation, the patients present malnourished and dehydrated, and require a significant amount of medical as well as psychiatric intervention.

Treatments and Services Offered

The following types of treatment are offered on an individualized basis and incorporated into the individualized plan for patient care:

1. Comprehensive Evaluation: Diagnostic work-up, psychological testing, evaluation of patient strengths/weaknesses, psychosocial factors (family, financial, vocational, and educational), and task behavior assessment.
2. Psychotherapy: Individual, group, and family.
3. Activities Therapy: Art, music, movement, drama, self-care, occupational therapy, specialized groups, pet therapy.
4. Recreation: Sports, exercise, dances, barbecues, indoor games, walks, social events.
5. Medication: As needed as determined by the individual patient’s treatment team.
6. Education: Self-care, medication, money-management, family education, symptom awareness and management, sexuality issues.
7. Discharge Planning and Placement: Discharge planning groups are available for individuals and care providers, AA meetings are held in the hospital and resources after discharge are provided for continuing care. We also have the Crossroads Community Re-entry Program (link to Crossroads info here) available.
8. Medical and Physical Health Evaluation: Treatment and care as indicated by individual patient need.

Phone Numbers

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