Mental health is a complex, delicate and specialized area of healthcare and, as you’ve probably read or heard, there is an increasing need for mental health services—coupled with a national shortage of mental health providers.

Our Department of Behavioral Medicine is an eight-bed inpatient unit providing care for people experiencing an acute mental health crisis along with special programs for those suffering from chemical dependency, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, schizophrenia and psychosis. Our Department of Behavioral Medicine provides both inpatient care and outpatient care for community members in need.

We recently changed how our Department of Behavioral Medicine is licensed. Previously, we maintained a separate license for our inpatient mental health unit; sort of like having a hospital within a hospital. After considering the needs of our community, gathering data and evaluating this type of licensure and the administrative burden and cost to maintain it, we’ve transitioned this unit to our normal hospital licensure.

To be clear, those who need inpatient care for mental-health-related issues can still receive that care right here at Winona Health. Criteria has been established by emergency department and inpatient physicians regarding who we can and cannot care for here on our unit. Following this criteria, patients who have aggressive behaviors beyond our capability who would be better served at a higher-level psychiatric facility will be transferred, which means we’ll be able to transition our resources to care for more of our community members. This is the same process we have used for many years.

The majority of people who suffer from a mental illness do not require hospitalization. However, if someone is experiencing an acute episode or problem that could cause them to harm themselves, or if they need to be closely monitored or to have mediations adjusted or stabilized, inpatient care may be the right option. Having an inpatient behavioral health unit at Winona Health allows people in our community who need temporary, around-the-clock, skilled care for a mental-health-related illness stay close to home.

Additional mental health resources:

You also may be interested in knowing that Winona Health provides comprehensive mental health services on an outpatient basis including counseling services; psychiatric and psychological evaluations; medication management; telepsychiatry services and weekend psychiatric outpatient services.

Our newest psychiatrist, Jessica McIlrath, MD, joined us last spring. She chose Winona Health because it is a smaller healthcare system that closely focuses on improving the health of the community it serves. Dr. McIlrath is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Learn more about the Behavioral Health Services available here at Winona Health.

Rachelle Schultz, EdD
President/CEO

Through this digital column, I hope to shine a light on what we’re working on both internally and beyond our walls in collaboration with other community-focused organizations.