Mental health matters. The people of Johnson County recognized this, which is why later this year, Johnson Memorial Health (JMH) will open its new 29-bed, in-patient behavioral health unit that will meet the needs of adults facing acute mental health crises.
The new wing is a result of conversations among multiple stakeholders in the county, including mental health professionals, law enforcement, probation workers, county government, the judicial branch and representatives of the hospital. They all wanted to find a way to do a better job of meeting the behavioral health needs of those living in and around Johnson County. They determined that there weren’t enough in-patient beds, as transfer logs reflected this at times JMH was forced to transfer people from Franklin to as far away as Terre Haute for an open bed. Reps from JMH worked with county commissioners who designated funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to build the new mental health unit.
“It’s been a great partnership between county government, local health care and other stakeholders to work together to help meet an unmet need of the community,” says Dr. David Dunkle, president and CEO of JMH.
The new unit will offer stabilization for people in acute behavioral health crises such as severe depression, anxiety, substance addiction, psychosis or suicidal ideation.
“The unfortunate thing is that too often in the past, a lot of these people – for instance, those with schizophrenia – have ended up incarcerated, and that’s not the best place for them,” Dunkle says. “They need mental health stabilization.”
Mental health is a huge problem in this country, and one that got exacerbated during COVID. Due to the stigma surrounding mental health issues, however, often people ignore their problems rather than seeking treatment. While we tend to focus on our physical health, behavioral health is marginalized.
“A lot of mental health care is very fractured – not broken, but not connected on a continuum,” says Heidi Monroe, behavioral health management doctor and program director of JMH’s new psychiatric wing. “Having this unit helps bridge those chasms between types of mental health care in the world.”
The plan is for this unit to be the stopgap, to help those who are unwell learn to engage with community experiences so they can get back into the world and function as best as possible.
“If we have to send a patient 30, 50 or 60 miles away for treatment, that doesn’t help with the patient’s support system through the stabilization process,” says Monroe, who was immediately impressed with the level of thought that went into the planning of the psychiatric wing.
“Mental health in America is often an afterthought where folks say, ‘Let’s refurbish this old facility,’” says Monroe, who has worked in and around mental health for 25 years in various capacities. “While that’s usable and doable, designing with intention is a far superior strategy. The intentionality here was incredible.”
She points to the architectural design with large, wide-open spaces and plenty of natural sunlight to pour in. They also built very tall ceilings and shelving units rather than closets for better security. The facility’s open floor plan has all patient rooms exit into a large day room, enabling staff to have eyes on patients to keep them safe.
They were also intentional about selecting calming paint colors and artwork, weighted furniture that’s inviting but difficult to move, and rocking chairs to soothe anxious patients.
Patients in the behavioral health unit will all follow a daily schedule, because people with mental health challenges tend to do better when on a regimented timetable. After rising at a certain time for hygiene and breakfast, they will then go into eight hours of programming that will include group therapy.
“We will focus on helping to stabilize ‘big feelings’ so we can get people to process in real time once they leave our facility,” says Monroe, who enjoys helping patients learn how to self-regulate their emotions. “I like training people on how to be calmer in the daily chaos that surrounds us.”
Programs are tailored to the patient’s needs as staff build an individualized treatment plan. Their length of stay will vary based on their diagnosis and the types of therapies being utilized such as dialectical behavior therapy or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.
“If a patient is having suicidal ideation – if they are lacking in hope, not seeing a vision for their future, feeling worthless – we will work with them until we feel we can return them to safety and community,” Monroe says.
According to Monroe, in America, the average stay in a psychiatric unit is seven to eight days. She estimates that given the available opportunities in Johnson County, they will see an average of a three- to five-day stay at the JMH unit.
“It’s an active stay that’s focused on helping that person recalibrate and return to the community,” she says.
Johnson County residents are thrilled to welcome this new unit, which has been in the works for two years.
“Ever since we announced it, we’ve been met with overwhelming enthusiasm from community members,” says Dunkle. “Almost everyone knows someone who has had a mental health crisis. The need for more services touches everybody.”
Dunkle reiterates how proud he is about the coordination of efforts across groups.
“We’re already hearing that people are looking at us for setting a statewide example for how this kind of partnership could work,” Dunkle says. “When your goal is to make the lives better for the people you serve, good things fall into place.”
Johnson Memorial Health’s main campus is located at 1125 West Jefferson Street in Franklin. They also have locations in Whiteland, Greenwood and the Center Grove area.
