MARTINSBURG — WVU Medicine opened a new Behavioral Medicine clinic on May 4, providing more care to help people of all ages deal with emotional and psychological issues. Located at 208 Viking Way, this new facility will make treatment more accessible to people in need.
For many years, Berkeley Medical Center has not had the infrastructure to handle the number of mental health providers and patients. Dr. Michael Ang-Rabanus, Regional Chair for the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, Eastern Division, explained that they were spread across the campus, with one clinic for the psychiatrists and another down the street for psychologists and additional satellite locations throughout both Berkeley and Jefferson Counties. This caused issues in treatments as patients saw different providers and information was lost. Now with this new clinic, everyone is under one roof to provide better care.
“Right when they touch a therapist, that therapist could do a direct handoff to a psychiatrist or psychologist,” Ang said. “Then we can offer optimal care right there and continue that care throughout their stay without them having to travel and without them having to set up other appointments. We can do all those things now in one space. And so, as you can imagine, the experience of the patient will be so much more enhanced and comfortable, and people will more likely continue their care and stay within care.”
During the ribbon cutting ceremony, WVU Medicine East CEO Mark O’Hern explained that they put together a survey to better understand the healthcare access needs in the community. Behavioral and mental health, as well as addiction medicine services, were on the top of the list. Having these services all under one roof will help increase access and improve care.
“Being able to have all of our mental health services under a single umbrella and being able to be co-located here and sharing expertise and knowledge, is really what the intent of this space is,” O’Hern said. “It’s also more than doubling of our footprint in terms of exam rooms for mental health care, for Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, certainly combine in Morgan County, even to that effect.”
With Behavioral Medicine in such high demand, the clinic is place perfectly to reach patients and give them the support they need. The clinic will offer adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, medication management, neuropsychological services, outpatient addition services, residential substance use detox and rehabilitation, therapy services and trauma-focused treatment.
This location could also allow medical students to do their residency here in the Eastern Panhandle to learn more about behavioral medicine. Ang and his team could help train and later recruit doctors who’ve grown up here and understand the community. Ang’s three-to-five-year goal is to begin training here, but in the meantime, they have better communication and aligned treatment plans for patients, which is most important in his eyes.
Ang’s hope is that this clinic will mark the beginning of a culture change in the Eastern Panhandle, breaking the stigma that comes with behavioral medicine and making it common practice. He believes visiting a therapist should be like visiting a regular doctor, providing preventable care to help people stay mentally healthy.
“We don’t want this to be the stigma where I’m going to see a psychiatrist because I need help,” Ang said. “No, I’m going to see a psychiatrist because it’s common practice and everyone needs to have their mental health checked out and everyone needs to feel like they are comfortable in their own skin and with their relationships and how they’re interacting with others and they’re functioning at an optimal level.”
Ang hopes behavioral medicine will continue to grow as they strive to serve people in the community and promote wellness for everyone. His team looks forward to working with patients and helping them heal.