Silver
Hill Hospital
Launches New Transitional Programs
by Nancy S. Helle
Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut
has launched a new series of transitional living programs,
which are offered at three residential cottages on the 63-acre
campus of the nationally recognized, not-for-profit psychiatric
treatment facility. Dr. Sigurd Ackerman, president and medical
director of Silver Hill Hospital, says that while transitional
programs have previously been offered at these halfway residences,
the new programs have been completely redesigned, so that they
are more comprehensive, more structured and staffed by a more
complete clinical team.
The programs offer a
flexible “extended
stay” option for patients who no longer require acute
care, but would benefit from a structured transitional setting
before returning to their homes and jobs. Four distinct tracts
have been developed, each with its own program design and dedicated
staff, to provide treatment for Addiction Disorders, Dual Disorders
(a psychiatric disorder combined with addiction), Eating Disorders
and Rehabilitation for Persistent Psychiatric Disorders, such
as schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder (manic depression). The
average length of stay is four weeks, although severe psychiatric
disorders may require a longer period
“There is no such thing as a quick fix for
many psychiatric disorders,” said Dr. Ackerman “Although
new medical advances may shorten the need for longer stays
in an acute care psychiatric unit, our experience has shown
that recovery from mental illness, including addiction disorders,
takes time. Very often, when a patient can safely be discharged
from an acute-care unit, he or she is far from ready to resume
a normal life.
However, since the advent
of managed care, hospitalization for the acute phase of severe
psychiatric disorders has become very brief, typically lasting
about a week. In today’s
accelerated health care environment, there is less access to
an appropriate transitional setting with flexible treatment
options for individual needs.”
Patients in most psychiatric
hospitals have to move to a new location within the mental
health system in order to participate in transitional living
programs and facilities. Silver Hill Hospital is one of five
or six treatment centers in the country, and the only hospital
in Connecticut that offers “Extended
Stay” programs on one campus, providing a true continuum
of care.
Each of the hospital’s four distinct tracts
has its own daily treatment programs and activities, and all
are lead by a clinical team that includes a board certified
psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse, social workers, group therapists
and residential counselors. Admission to the programs may begin
with crisis management and stabilization in the hospital’s
acute care units, and continue with an extended treatment program
of rehabilitation and recovery.
Silver Hill Hospital is the only completely independent
not-for-profit psychiatric hospital in Connecticut. The hospital
provides a full range of services for adults and adolescents.#
For further information, call 800-899-4455
or visit the website: www.silverhillhospital.org.
