How the NeuroPsychiatric Hospitals System is Saving Lives During the Pandemic and Exposing that Discrimination Still is All Too Common
NeuroPsychiatric Hospital Helps Those with Serious Mental and Physical Ailments During the COVID-19 Pandemic
There has been a growing problem across the United States, where those who are both mentally and physically ill are left untreated. Medical facilities cannot care for mental issues. Meanwhile, psychiatric facilities cannot treat medical conditions. These issues have been highlighted even more as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on the population. NeuroPsychiatric Hospitals provide a solution.
NeuroPsychiatric Hospital (NPH) is a system of hospitals in Texas, Indiana, and Arizona that work to offer patients care for both medical and mental illnesses simultaneously. NPH experts ensure that people get help with any mental and behavioral disturbances while exploring how they can be treated for any other ailments.
One of the reasons why NeuroPsychiatric Hospital has stepped up is to ensure that patients are getting the care that they need. Founder and CEO, Dr. Cameron Gilbert stated that “many government agencies act is if the seriously mentally ill patients cannot get Covid-19. State and local surveyors in some areas are stunned when they find out those with serious mentally ill individuals have the virus”. Gilbert reported “surveyors often say these people must get out if they have the virus, immediately we ask where should they go? Never one single time have we been provided an answer”. NPH takes infectious disease patients everyday who also have acute psychiatric symptoms and Covid-19 is just one more we take”. Given that our patients have behavioral problems plus serious medical problems, these patients are at high risk for a negative outcome and also spreading the Covid-19 virus. We are saving these patients lives and those patient lives that these psychiatric patients would expose if they were on the street”, stated Kashif Janjua, MD and Chief of Internal Medicine. Over half of the patient database at a NeuroPsychiatric Hospital is either suicidal or homicidal. Rather than allowing such patients to roam the streets without treatment, they’re admitted and therefore, saving the lives of many.
Particularly during the pandemic, those who are exhibiting symptoms cannot go to the ER. Hospitals will turn them away as soon as their mental illness is spotted. Those who suffer from dementia, autism, schizophrenia or other issues can become a liability in the hospital. Without meaning to, they can injure the medical staff and even put other patients at risk of being hurt. However, Gilbert points out that “these patients, our patients, who are very behaviorally impaired and medically impaired are being severely discriminated against by the system and by government agencies who claim they are patient advocates… but what’s new about that”.
NeuroPsychiatric Hospitals offer treatments when other medical facilities will not. It ensures that patients are getting treated so that they can live healthier and more productive lives. Patients have ranged from NFL players to those that are homeless. NPH has quickly learned that the issue is not limited to one class of individuals.
Since the coronavirus can spread so quickly with contact, the goal is to identify those who have been infected. When a mental illness is involved, many people don’t move forward to get treated because they are used to the system neglecting or punishing them. The underlying issues keep them away from doctors, yet they could easily expose dozens in their daily paths. As such, the experts at NPH work to provide the treatment as a safety net within the communities that they operate.
NeuroPsychiatric Hospital is based in South Bend, Indiana, with more locations being opened throughout 2020. With an emphasis on internal medicine and psychiatry, they’re looking to offer more specialized treatments to those who suffer in multiple ways. Whether there’s a concern during the pandemic or at any other time, those who require treatment can turn to the hospital system for specialized care.