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JUNE 2004

Silver Hill Hospital
Launches New Transitional Programs
by Nancy S. Helle

Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut has launched a new series of transitional living programs, which are offered at three residential cottages on the 63-acre campus of the nationally recognized, not-for-profit psychiatric treatment facility. Dr. Sigurd Ackerman, president and medical director of Silver Hill Hospital, says that while transitional programs have previously been offered at these halfway residences, the new programs have been completely redesigned, so that they are more comprehensive, more structured and staffed by a more complete clinical team.

The programs offer a flexible “extended stay” option for patients who no longer require acute care, but would benefit from a structured transitional setting before returning to their homes and jobs. Four distinct tracts have been developed, each with its own program design and dedicated staff, to provide treatment for Addiction Disorders, Dual Disorders (a psychiatric disorder combined with addiction), Eating Disorders and Rehabilitation for Persistent Psychiatric Disorders, such as schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder (manic depression). The average length of stay is four weeks, although severe psychiatric disorders may require a longer period

“There is no such thing as a quick fix for many psychiatric disorders,” said Dr. Ackerman “Although new medical advances may shorten the need for longer stays in an acute care psychiatric unit, our experience has shown that recovery from mental illness, including addiction disorders, takes time. Very often, when a patient can safely be discharged from an acute-care unit, he or she is far from ready to resume a normal life.

However, since the advent of managed care, hospitalization for the acute phase of severe psychiatric disorders has become very brief, typically lasting about a week. In today’s accelerated health care environment, there is less access to an appropriate transitional setting with flexible treatment options for individual needs.”

Patients in most psychiatric hospitals have to move to a new location within the mental health system in order to participate in transitional living programs and facilities. Silver Hill Hospital is one of five or six treatment centers in the country, and the only hospital in Connecticut that offers “Extended Stay” programs on one campus, providing a true continuum of care.

Each of the hospital’s four distinct tracts has its own daily treatment programs and activities, and all are lead by a clinical team that includes a board certified psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse, social workers, group therapists and residential counselors. Admission to the programs may begin with crisis management and stabilization in the hospital’s acute care units, and continue with an extended treatment program of rehabilitation and recovery.

Silver Hill Hospital is the only completely independent not-for-profit psychiatric hospital in Connecticut. The hospital provides a full range of services for adults and adolescents.#

For further information, call 800-899-4455 or visit the website: www.silverhillhospital.org.

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