Pomegranate to Expand Teen Psychiatric Hospital
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Pomegranate Health Systems of Central Ohio broke ground last week on an addition to the existing psychiatric hospital and residential treatment facility located off Harmon Avenue in Columbus.
The health provider treats teens with serious mental and behavioral health disorders. The addition will provide two 10-bed residential units, transitional outpatient space and up to nine more offices. The new construction adds about 9,000 square feet to the existing 45,000-square-foot facility.
The addition is just the latest expansion for the hospital, which doubled in size last summer and now treats up to 20 teens in crisis. The acute hospital tries to stabilize adolescents who suffer from suicidal or homicidal thoughts or psychosis.
Transitional outpatient treatment space is also being planned to provide follow-up psychiatric care and medication management until a teen is ready to transition to community-based care providers and area counseling services. Twenty additional beds will be added to the residential treatment facility to provide space for teens who require an intensive therapeutic program for many who suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome and other mental or behavioral health disorders.
“By growing and expanding, we now have the space to offer transitional outpatient therapy to better serve our patients upon discharge from our acute hospital by January 2015,” said Pomegranate Health Systems CEO Angela Nickell in a statement. “By offering additional intensive residential treatment beds, we help stabilize and provide teens with the coping skills to help them achieve permanency and resilience in the community. We are in the process of continuing to build and expand our outstanding team.”
In 2012, Pomegranate Health Systems introduced a juvenile competency attainment program, aimed at helping teens achieve competency to stand trial, in addition to receiving treatment for the mental and behavioral health disorders that often accompany delinquent behavior. The program was designed in collaboration with Terry Kukor, PhD, ABPP, director of forensic and specialized assessment services, and Daniel L. Davis, PhD, ABPP, senior forensic psychologist at Netcare in Columbus.
The goal of the program is to treat the underlying behavioral causes associated with incompetency. Pomegranate notes that up to 70 percent of youth in the juvenile justice population suffer from mental or behavioral health disorders.
“Pomegranate Health Systems aims to be a leading presence in adolescent psychiatry in Central Ohio,” said Dr. Kasiraja Sathappan, Pomegranate’s medical director, in a statement. “Our programming helps teens move toward recovery through intensive residential treatment and counseling. We already offer physical examinations, nursing care, nutrition, psychological evaluation and education through Summit Academy on-site. This just completes the circle of care.”