SOUTHBRIDGE/WEBSTER, MA – The Harrington Auxiliary has donated $25,000 to Harrington HealthCare System to benefit the new inpatient psychiatric unit planned for Harrington’s Webster campus at 340 Thompson Road.
“We know how much of an urgent need access to behavioral health services has become in our communities,” said Auxiliary President Helen Lenti. “We are happy to be able to contribute to a project that has the potential to help thousands of people.”
“We are grateful for the continued support of our Auxiliary for projects like the inpatient unit,” said Edward Moore, president and CEO of Harrington HealthCare System. “We are looking forward to offering the entire region another way to access critical care for mental health and substance abuse treatment and recovery.”
The 8,200-square-foot inpatient facility, scheduled to open in late 2016, will be the first in central and western Massachusetts to offer a specialty track for patients suffering from mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
The inpatient unit is part of a larger initiative by Harrington to expand behavioral health services for the entire Southern Worcester County. In 2014, the healthcare system received a $3.5 million grant from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission as part of the Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization, & Transformation (CHART) investment program.
In October 2015, Harrington began integrating licensed behavioral health clinicians and patient navigators within Harrington’s inpatient unit in Southbridge, its Emergency Care Center in Southbridge, and the Harrington Physician Services family practice offices at 10 North Main Street, Charlton and 340 Thompson Road, Webster. Since the program began, more than 500 individuals have been identified who could benefit from additional support, with more than 270 who accepted and received some type of service from the program.
In November, Harrington opened the region’s first-ever intensive outpatient program for substance abuse in Southbridge. Gregory Mirhej, Harrington’s assistant vice president of behavioral health services and director of recovery services, said the program has helped patients receive treatment in their own community, avoid acute levels of care such as inpatient hospitalization and reduce the risk of overdose and other issues associated with addiction, such as legal involvement.
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