Senior Behavioral Health Unit at Columbus Community Hospital

Senior Behavioral Health Unit at Columbus Community Hospital

[Music] Welcome to the Senior Behavioral 
Health unit at Columbus Community Hospital. My name is Jessica Sample and I’m 
the community education manager i’ll be giving you a tour of the unit today 
our first stop is the group therapy room. This is our group therapy room where our 
trained staff such as social workers and recreational therapists facilitate groups 
to help maintain and restore function. Now let’s go down the hall and see a patient room. We are a 10 bed unit. We have seven private 
rooms and three semi-private rooms. Each room is designed with safety in mind, including features 
like our oxygen being locked behind this beautiful plexiglas. All of our fixtures such as doorknobs 
the bathroom fixtures are all ligature resistant. There is a nice feature of the electric 
blinds placed behind plexiglas as an added safety feature. Across from our patient 
rooms are all of our staff offices. Patients on the unit have 24-hour access 
to psychiatric care including an exam room that allows for telehealth with our psychiatrist 
and on-site our psychiatric nurse practitioner. Hi my name is Lori Smith i’m a psychiatric nurse 
practitioner with more than 20 years of experience working in mental health i provide medication 
management services to clients at the Columbus Community Hospital. My approach to mental 
health treatment is a bio psychosocial model where we partner with your current treatment this 
model includes looking at all the influences on your current health including your family history, 
social components, and your own perceptions of how you are functioning. We’ll actively include your 
primary health care provider in your care and your treatment may include lab work other diagnostic 
lab tests as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological recommendations to help manage 
your symptoms. We look forward to taking care of you here at Columbus Community Hospital next I’d 
like to introduce you to our program director Ed. This is our nursing station at Columbus Community 
Hospital senior behavioral health unit this is a location where calls will come in and our social 
workers or nurses will take that information and they will generate a intake document which we will 
staff with a psychiatrist and seek the admission. Our goal here is to create a safe environment 
where your loved one will receive care and stabilize and return to the community 
in the least restrictive setting as soon as possible. We can receive referrals from skilled 
nursing facilities, assisted living centers, and independent families and people themselves 
can self-refer. We also will work very closely with primary care physicians and help resolve 
the circumstances as soon as possible. If you’re ready I’ll take you now and show 
you our dining area and other group room. This is our alternate group room this is also 
our common area where we will serve meals and this is where our activities therapists and 
social workers can conduct talk therapies groups and activities to keep people 
active and healthy. [Music] So as you’ve seen in our private or semi-private 
rooms we have made those as safe as possible and people are can use those facilities themselves 
in the event somebody needs additional supports for toileting or personal care 
we also have a bathing room. We’ve been fortunate enough to receive a donation 
that we do have a hydrotherapy tub as well to help those individuals who have additional physical 
needs beyond their assisted care needs. [Music] Our multidisciplinary team will meet on a daily 
basis to discuss the care and progress of your loved one. This team will include nursing 
staff, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, social workers, and recreational therapists. 
On a daily basis we’re assessing ongoing needs any emerging needs and our progress towards 
discharge. Discharge planning begins at intake we’re ready to see your loved one go back home 
to the least restrictive setting possible as soon as possible. [Music] Thank you for joining 
the tour of our senior behavioral health unit at Columbus Community Hospital if you have 
any additional questions please feel free to reach out to our unit at the phone number listed 
below or check us out on www.columbushosp.org. [Music] you

The new senior behavioral health unit at Columbus Community Hospital has opened. The inpatient program serves adults 65 and older who are experiencing severe behavioral and/or emotional symptoms. The secure, 10-bed unit is on the second floor of the hospital in the area previously occupied by the maternal child health department. It is for short-term stays of 10-14 days.