Published: April 29, 2008 11:35 pm         

Forum addresses gaps in area mental health care services

Mental health services for children and even the elderly are fairly plentiful in Enid and northwest Oklahoma, but gaps in serving the general adult population are a growing concern.

Local mental health professionals and members of the public came together Tuesday at Autry Technol-ogy Center to talk about the mental health programs available in Enid and northwest Oklahoma.

Several challenges and issues came up during the discussion, including gaps in services, lack of inpatient care for adults, lack of psychiatrists and psychiatric professionals to serve rural areas and lack of services for children and adults with autism or Asperger’s syndrome.

“We know there are gaps in services,” said Allan McCobb, executive director of United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma. United Way and Autry Tech partnered to host the forum. “But, there is an array of services in Garfield County.”

He said the purpose of the forum is for professionals delivering mental health care services in Enid and Garfield County to come together to talk about what is available and provide advice to the public.

There were no immediate answers for those gaps in services. For example, Clyde Miller, outpatient director for Northwest Center for Behavioral Health, said adults requiring inpatient services usually are seen on a crisis basis and housed at Western Fort Supply. Miller said Western State Hospital at Fort Supply usually is full and is the only inpatient adult facility in northwest Oklahoma.

Miller said around 150 Garfield County residents are referred to Western State Hospital every year. For longer-term substance abuse issues, Lighthouse Substance Abuse Services of North-west Oklahoma is located in Woodward. The facility offers a 28-day rehabilitation program.

“Research shows there is a need for an inpatient facility in northwest Oklahoma,” Miller said. “But there isn’t funding for it.”

Miller also pointed to the fact his office is in need of case workers and licensed mental health professionals.

Hope Dilling, a certified nurse specialist with Oklahoma State University Psychiatry Physicians in Enid, echoed the concerns about inpatient facilities and lack of mental health professionals. The OSU center in Enid primarily provides medication management on an outpatient basis, but performs some evaluations and consultations.

She said the OSU group is working to provide a psychiatric residency program locally to train new psychiatrists.

“Our vision is to have our clinic have a psychiatric residency program to prepare psychiatrists to work in rural areas,” she said.

Enid does have an inpatient facility for children and adolescents through the Integris Bass Behavioral Health Center.

Director Don Henderson said the facility provides acute and residential psychiatric diagnosis for children ages 5-17. The hospital also has a program for seniors 65 and older called Generations.

For children in need of residential care, the hospital works with Enid Public Schools to make sure the children’s educational needs are being met while they are hospitalized.

Even elderly residents have an inpatient option through Integris Bass. Steve Atwood is the director of Generations at Bass, and he said the program serves residents 65 and older. He said the program usually serves seven to eight adults at a time, and there usually is a bed or two available.

He categorized the program as one that helps older adults with issues of depression, anxiety, onset of Alzheimer’s or dementia. The idea is to help people on a short-term basis and get those patients either back home or into a nursing home or assisted-living facility for assistance.

Enid and Garfield County have about a dozen or so mental health programs or services that provide everything from crisis intervention and counseling to individual rehabilitation and referrals.

Youth and Family Services of North Central Oklahoma offers an emergency youth shelter for children through age 17, and YWCA Reflections Halfway House offers residential options for women and children in crisis.

For a complete list of mental health services and programs, contact McCobb at United Way of Enid and Garfield County, 237-0821.