psychiatric emergency

two women who are peer support specialists stand in front of a wall

For mental health support, NC hospital hires those who live with it

July 18, 2019 by Taylor Knopf

For mental health support, NC hospital hires those who live with it - North Carolina Health News

Cherry Hospital is relying more and more on the expertise of people who live in mental health recovery and patient input to shape treatment.

By Taylor Knopf There are two groups of people most familiar with mental illness: psychiatrists and those who live with it. So Cherry Hospital is hiring both. Cherry, a psychiatric inpatient treatment facility in Goldsboro, is the first state-run hospital in North Carolina to add certified mental health peer support specialists to its staff. The […]

we see the back of the head of a white man, a younger African American woman is facing the camera, speaking to him. She looks like she's explaining something.

New Push to Help Mental Health Patients Determine Their Treatment in Emergencies

November 14, 2018 by Rose Hoban

New Push to Help Mental Health Patients Determine Their Treatment in Emergencies - North Carolina Health News

With passage of a bill last summer, more mental health treatment providers are helping their clients fill out psychiatric advance directives.

By Rose Hoban Bill W was looking to change careers. After decades as an executive in the tire industry, he was most of the way through a program to become a chiropractor in South Carolina. But in early 2017, he rolled his truck, leaving him with broken ribs and several fractured vertebrae. Recovering slowly, in […]

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N.C.’s First Child Crisis Centers Open in Charlotte and Asheville

August 13, 2018 by Taylor Knopf

N.C.’s First Child Crisis Centers Open in Charlotte and Asheville - North Carolina Health News

It’s common for children experiencing a mental health crisis to wait in emergency departments for days or weeks to get proper care. Child crisis centers provide an alternative.

By Taylor Knopf Gwen Bartley has spent countless hours in emergency departments and at behavioral health centers around the state desperately trying to get her son help during crisis situations. He was 4 when she adopted him from foster care and out of an abusive past. On top of the childhood trauma, her boy was […]

shows the front of the legislative building in Raleigh, general assembly

Legislature Moves to Reduce Psychiatric Boarding in Hospital Emergency Rooms

June 19, 2018 by Rose Hoban

Legislature Moves to Reduce Psychiatric Boarding in Hospital Emergency Rooms - North Carolina Health News

A bill seeks to address the problem of people languishing in hospital EDs, waiting for a psychiatric bed, but mental health advocates decried the process.

By Rose Hoban In the waning days of this year’s legislative work session, lawmakers abruptly revived and passed a bill aimed at revising North Carolina’s laws to address the flood of people with mental health crises in hospital emergency departments. Officials from the state’s hospital association had convened administrators, advocacy organizations, academics, mental health professionals […]

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For 11-year-old in ER, The Wait for a Psych Bed is 10 Days

October 17, 2017 by Taylor Knopf

For 11-year-old in ER, The Wait for a Psych Bed is 10 Days - North Carolina Health News

For more than 250 hours in the UNC Emergency Department, Liam Harrison waited for an inpatient bed to open at one of North Carolina’s few psychiatric facilities. Maybe today will be the day he gets one.

By Taylor Knopf Calling the police to escort his 11-year-old son to the emergency department was one of the hardest decisions Michael Harrison ever had to make. Liam has autism. His tantrums have become more frequent and violent in recent months. On Friday, Oct. 6, Harrison got an urgent call from Liam’s school director Linda […]

show's a woman walking away down a hallway

Carolina Outreach Provides an Urgent Care Alternative for Psychiatric Crisis

September 13, 2017 by Rose Hoban

Carolina Outreach Provides an Urgent Care Alternative for Psychiatric Crisis - North Carolina Health News

The new service in Durham is the only one of it’s kind in North Carolina and is on a yearlong trial to see if it works to reduce the load at area emergency departments.

By Rose Hoban Where do people go when they sprain an ankle? Or when they have a mysterious rash or a sore throat? Increasingly, when people can’t get into their doctors’ offices in a timely way, they walk into urgent care centers. These places aren’t emergency rooms, but a patient can get reassurance that the […]

talking to a psychiatrist over the web while in the emergency department, telehealth

STePs Toward Shortening ED Wait Times for Mental Health Patients

July 20, 2017 by Taylor Knopf

STePs Toward Shortening ED Wait Times for Mental Health Patients - North Carolina Health News

North Carolina's telepsychiatry program is starting to make a dent on how long people in mental health crisis spend in the emergency room.

By Taylor Knopf About 40 percent of North Carolinians live in one of the state’s 80 rural counties, many of which lack ready access to health care. But in recent years, more and more North Carolinians are receiving care with telemedicine. However, there remain a lot of gaps in state policy when it comes to […]

Reducing mental illness in jails with evidence

May 7, 2017 by Taylor Knopf

Reducing mental illness in jails with evidence - North Carolina Health News

Stepping Up brings together corrections and mental health professionals to find best practices to reduce the burden of mental illness in jails.

By Taylor Knopf Several hundred county commissioners, sheriffs, court officials and mental health providers from across North Carolina will meet in Raleigh on Tuesday to discuss a new initiative to reduce mental illness in jails. County jails are the largest provider of residential mental health care in the United States, said Richard Cho, director of […]

Lawmakers Get Sobering Mental Health Update

December 6, 2016 by Rose Hoban

Lawmakers Get Sobering Mental Health Update - North Carolina Health News

Reports from around the state show success in some mental health programs but there are still many barriers to getting people the services they need. By Rose Hoban A 50-year-old man sits continuously in an emergency department for 80 days after attempting suicide. A 4-year-old child with psychiatric problems is left in a different emergency […]

Scarcity Of Mental Health Care Means Patients — Especially Kids — Land In ER

October 19, 2016 by Editor

Scarcity Of Mental Health Care Means Patients — Especially Kids — Land In ER - North Carolina Health News

Research has shown North Carolina has some of the longest wait times around. By Shefali Luthra Kaiser Health News On any given day, pediatrician Lindsay Irvin estimates a quarter of her patients need psychiatric help. She sees teens who say they are suicidal, and elementary school children who suffer chest pains stemming from bullying anxiety. […]

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