Inpatient Behavioral Health
Your Gift Will Help Our Hospital Fully Upgrade the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit for the First Time in 50 Years
A Place for Care, A Place of Hope
The number of people suffering from behavioral health illnesses in our region is greater than ever before. People of all ages, lifestyles, and income brackets. People in need of therapeutic care, often on a long-term basis. People searching for hope in a personal sea of anxiety, delusion, or despair. They are our family members, co-workers, and friends.
In the first phase of the “Any Day. Any Time. Every One” Campaign, Glens Falls Hospital used community donations to create the new Crisis Stabilization Unit, a dedicated part of the Sheridan Emergency Department for adolescents and adults who are in the midst of a behavioral health emergency.
Now, spurred by a $500,000 gift from the Hoopes Family Foundation, the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation is seeking your help to fully upgrade and modernize our hospital’s Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit for the first time in 50 years.
This Unit is where adults age 18 and older who are afflicted with behavioral health illnesses can receive long-term therapy and care -- sometimes for weeks or months at a time.
Your gift to the “Any Day. Any Time. Every One” campaign will help give them the modern, upgraded care environment they need to find comfort, answers, and a path toward a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life.
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The behavioral health specialists of Glens Falls Hospital provide a level of inpatient behavioral health care far beyond what is found at most hospitals its size, and even many larger hospitals. Our hospital is lauded by patients, families, and New York State for delivering truly therapeutic care – with highly skilled doctors, therapists, nurses, nutritionists and other invaluable support personnel supplementing today’s advanced medications with intensive, informed, and compassionate care that prioritizes dignity, safety and recovery.
But while the skill, experience and care capabilities of our behavioral health professionals continue to grow by leaps and bounds, the physical environment in which our behavioral health patients spend their days – sometimes for weeks and months at a time -- is simply no longer supportive of the high-quality therapeutic care the hospital has prided itself on for decades.
Since the unit’s opening a half-century ago, time has taken its toll. Furnishings and infrastructure are outdated. The need for repairs is frequent, meaning that some of the 30 inpatient beds are almost always out of service, reducing the number of people that can be cared for at any given time. Frequent repairs also mean increased costs.
Whereas some hospitals might be content to maintain status quo, Glens Falls Hospital recognizes how great the need is for behavioral health services in our region and is committed to making the necessary improvements.
But this can’t happen without our community’s help. The insurance payments the hospital receives for inpatient behavioral health care do not even cover the full cost of care, let alone facility, infrastructure and equipment expenses.
Your gift to the “Any Day. Any Time. Every One” Campaign will enable Glens Falls Hospital to fully upgrade its Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit, creating a modern, calm, therapeutic and healing environment more supportive of recovery and overall personal well-being.
We’re confident this is a need that our close-knit, caring community will embrace.
Caregiver’s Perspective
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The Glens Falls Hospital Foundation asked Behavioral Health Services Clinical Manager Max English, LCSW, for a caregiver’s perspective on why a fully upgraded Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit is so important. The following are excerpts from his reply:
“Renovation of the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit is not simply a cosmetic project, but one that is likely to enhance the therapeutic aspects of the unit, promoting a calm, healing environment that supports recovery and overall well-being.”
“Patients admitted to the Unit are often experiencing acute distress, intense emotions, and vulnerability. The environment of care plays a powerful and measurable role in shaping behavior. Our behavioral health unit, despite the best efforts of a litany of facilities staff, has begun to show its age and its fatigue. The unit has been repaired countless times over the years, but decades of patchwork have left a unit that wears its scars openly. This has an unfortunate effect on our patient’s behavior. Correspondingly, a unit that is well-kept, clean, and free of damage signals moderate, calm behavior.”
“The use of impact resistant wall coverings, reinforced doors and windows, and easily maintained flooring reduce the need for repairs, and will begin to change the Unit’s very culture, with every hallway, doorway, bedroom and bathroom becoming a signal of serenity, healing, and recovery. The aesthetic becomes the therapeutic.”
“The proposed addition of several amenities furthers the therapeutic process. Investment in an ambient music system, for example, is expected to reduce distress, agitation, and aggression. These are small changes that contribute to meaningful differences in patient care, safety, and recovery.”
“Investment in the unit’s physical environment is not simply aesthetic – it represents an investment in every patient admitted to the unit. It signals that everyone involved with Glens Falls Hospital, the Albany Medical Health System, and the surrounding communities value behavioral healthcare; that the patients admitted to the unit deserve compassion and care; that the staff are valued; and that the environment is one intended for healing, focused on patients’ dignity and recovery.”
By investing in the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit, we do more than modernize a space—we transform it into an active participant in care, shaping outcomes for every patient who walks through its doors, now and in the future.”
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Behavioral Health Services Clinical Manager Max English, LCSW, provides the following perspective on the challenges of caring for aging patients, with multiple co-morbidities, in an aged and physically inadequate facility.
Glens Falls Hospital’s Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit cares for any patient age 18 and up who requires acute psychiatric treatment. We care for patients across the lifespan, with a wide range of needs. Comorbidity is common, with many patients facing physical, developmental, addiction-related, and psychiatric illness in tandem.
Consider the following:
A 39-year-old male presents with auditory and visual hallucinations, disorganized thought process, paranoid delusions, and aggressive behavior. He has a history of schizophrenia, and has been refusing prescribed medications. He decompensates rapidly and violently, and poses a significant risk toward those around him. He was admitted to the unit on an involuntary commitment to mitigate that risk, but he remains a danger to staff and peers. He is well known to the unit, having been admitted dozens of times over the past two decades, and few patients are known to have a greater history of violence and destructive behavior.
A 65-year-old man is transferred to the BHU from one of the hospital’s medical units. The patient is legally blind and medically fragile, presenting with COPD and poor cardiac health. On the medical unit, He discloses worsening auditory hallucinations, with derogatory voices telling him to end his life. He has a history of schizophrenia, and was unable to access medication without support from a family who have little interest in providing for his care. The patient requests admission to the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit, stating a need for wraparound support. He is transferred to the unit on a voluntary status, but his ability to participate in treatment is minimal. He is largely isolative to his room, despite staff’s best efforts to engage with him.
A 28-year-old female is admitted to the unit for the first time, showing signs of a profound depression. She discloses suicidal ideation to staff, and reports feelings of apathy, hopelessness, and decreased motivation. Her depression responds to few medications, and those that are effective come with unfortunate and intolerable side effects. Her treatment team struggles to find a combination of medication that is both effective and viable.
A 72-year-old female is admitted to the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit with a history of depressive symptoms spanning decades. The only medications effective in managing her symptoms cause side effects that ruin her quality of life. Her providers are now considering the use of medications never before trialed on the behavioral health unit.
One of the greatest challenges facing behavioral healthcare today is that aging patients are increasingly common, and treatment centers designed to care for patients with acute psychiatric concerns are poorly equipped to address their comorbidities – our unit included.
I use the patients described above to illustrate that point. The 39-year-old man was admitted to this unit for the first time in the year 2000. He has since aged into the 65-year-old gentleman. The 28-year-old female was admitted for the first time in 1982. She is on our unit again today, at the age of 72.
We continue to treat their depression, their psychosis, and any other psychiatric conditions they may face. We do our best to manage their comorbidities. Unfortunately, our patients’ needs have evolved while our unit remains the same.
We are using the same bathrooms and showers used in 1982. They have to be closed regularly for repair, and patients’ ability to attend to personal hygiene is diminished. The depressed patients described above, for instance, may have little energy to bathe or brush their teeth, and it is easier to stay in bed than it is to wait in line.
Not every room has an electrical outlet. The 65-year-old gentleman described above requires a CPAP to sleep. His admission may force our staff to ask the violent patient to move, putting pressure on an already brittle temperament.
Our patients walk the same hallways repaired in the year 2000 after the younger version of our male patient punched holes through the drywall.
Modernization of Glens Fall Hospital’s Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit will allow our treatment team to meet the needs of a changing patient population. Building the unit from material capable of withstanding the 39-year-old’s rage allows us to focus on the 65-year-old’s loneliness. Every time we have to coax an isolative 28-year-old patient to walk half the unit to find a working shower, we have less time to explore novel treatments meant to break a depression lasting 44 years.
Modernization is not just an aesthetic change – it is a strategic intervention allowing us to do the greatest good for the greatest number.
