Behavioral Health Expansion
Hospital’s Psychiatric Unit Will Now Accept Patients Younger Than 50

“Sometimes there’s an epidemic of sanity. Sometimes, there’s a full moon and everyone needs help.”

Dr. Pedro Rodriguez consults his team. Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai Medical Center

By Rochelle Oliver

Representatives from Mount Sinai Medical Center said they are expanding the scope of the medical center’s psychological health services to meet increasing demand in Miami Beach.

Previously, the Adult Behavioral Health Unit catered exclusively to geriatric patients. Now, the unit will service patients 18 years of age and older, Mount Sinai officials said. The first phase of the psychiatric unit’s expansion opened Aug. 3 but won’t be complete until January 2007, with a total of 99 beds for inpatient care.

The private, not-for-profit medical center is among the few locations in Miami Beach to offer psychiatric inpatient services for adults. In the last decade, two area hospitals that previously provided psychiatric inpatient care closed, the more recent was South Beach Community Hospital at the end of 2005.

“It helps to know that there’s another level of expertise in the back yard,” said Sharlene Welker, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Miami Heart Institute Aventura Campus and Behavioral Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Prior to the expansion, anyone under age 50 was directed to Jackson Memorial or other psychiatric locations farther away. Even patients who fell within the guidelines were sometimes put on Mount Sinai’s waiting list, although the need fluctuated, Welker said: “Sometimes there’s an epidemic of sanity. Sometimes, there’s a full moon and everyone needs help.”

Welker and Dr. Pedro Rodriguez, a psychiatrist at Mount Sinai, insist that waiting lists will be a thing of the past at the new psychiatric unit. Should a mentally ill patient become harmful to himself or others, it’s a red-flag signal for immediate assistance and room will be made almost immediately, Rodriguez said.

“It’s like any illness if it progresses and goes untreated,” Rodriguez said. The problem only gets worse and the care that much more significant, he said. An average inpatient will receive intensive treatment lasting one to two weeks. During that time, patients undergo around-the-clock supervision, group and individual counseling plus other activities geared toward getting a patient back on his or her feet, Rodriguez said.

A mental disorder is diagnosed by how a person is able to function in his or her societal role, for instance as a parent or employee, Rodriguez said. Unlike with physical injury such as back pain, a twisted ankle or a heart attack, a psychiatric patient can become completely nonfunctional both physically and mentally.

“The biggest risk is suicide,” he said. Based on statistics gathered from the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 90 percent of people who commit suicide suffer from some sort of mental disorder.

Currently, one in four people nationwide suffer from some type of mental illness. Welker and Rodriguez say that number has increased over the years, partly due to more public awareness. But at the same time, the number of Americans nationwide with health insurance has decreased. A 2005 U.S. Census states 46.6 million Americans are without any sort of health insurance. In 1999, Miami-Dade ranked sixth highest in the nation for the number of people without health insurance.

It costs an uninsured patient $850 a day to receive inpatient care at Mount Sinai.

Kathryn Abbate, chief executive officer of the Miami Beach Health Center, acknowledges the need for psychiatric care in the area but also sees a majority of the Beach’s population unable to afford services at places such as Mount Sinai.

“Although Miami Beach is known for the rich and famous, we have a very large amount of people who fall below the poverty line,” said Abbate. The Miami Beach Behavioral Health Center receives government funds but only deals with outpatient psychiatric care.

William Gardner Jr., a former gifted teacher, current PTA member and welfare recipient, is one Miami Beach resident who can’t afford Mount Sinai services. Standing on the ramp at the Miami Beach Library, Gardner was talking loudly to himself.           

“I like to talk my problems out loud,” he said. He’s wearing purple pants, an oversized crocheted top and is carrying a bag of knick-knacks. He said he is mentally ill and that he tried to receive treatment about a year and a half ago, but it was no use.

“I’ve had problems with counselors who don’t know how to interview people in the lower middle-class,” said Gardner.

The first time he sought assistance was at a state-funded facility. There, he could get help for little to no cost. He was number 66 in line and waited eight hours before his number was called. He had to return to the Miami Gardens location a second and third day before being approved for counseling. Gardner said he wants to get help, but refuses to return until there is a working system.

“I don’t know who is in charge, but Charlie Crist needs to do something about this,” said Gardner.

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