There’s a critical shortage of behavioral health services for young patients.
“We've got kids who have really complex neuro-developmental disorders like autism spectrum disorders who just gets stuck and there's no good place for them to get care.”
Dr. Scott Halstead is Pine Rest’s Vice President of Outpatient and Recovery Services.
He says a merger between Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and BRAINS, the Behavioral Resources and Institute for Neuropsychological Services, will streamline the process of ongoing care and strengthen the specialized services each organization brings.
“They have a number of therapists to work with kids, especially really young kids. There are not enough clinicians to do that work today so that's exciting for us. They do nurse psychological assessments. They do psych assessments. They do some forensic work. And then they have something that we don't have which is speaking language therapy and occupational therapy and so that we're excited to add those to our list of clinical services.”
Halstead points to practical benefits like shared electronic patient records and more offices.
“Our assessment service is really headquartered in sort of this Southwest side of West Michigan and if you live on the northeast side that's a pretty good drive so there's even some regional advantages to having assessment services that are on the exact opposite side of town. it just makes it a lot easier for people to get into. “
The merger is effective at the end of October.
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