If You Build It….Psych Field Gets Boost In Iowa
What It Means to the Emerging Trend in Psych Services
Wait times for seeing psychiatrists or psychologists average 2-4 months, according to our poll of 231 school counselors, PCPs, and hospital discharge planners in Iowa, but there is hope in a new program out of Broadlawns Medical Center. The hospital has a new psych residency program. University of Iowa Hospitals had the only psych training program here until this one. Several Iowa hospitals closed their mental health units in recent years, not due to low demand but low supply, says Martin Kellogg, who struggled in handing recruiting for these hospitals. The state of Iowa is helping fund the effort, and Mercy Hospital here will also add its own psychiatric residency training program. There is limited federal funding for programs like these from predominantly rural states, Iowa hospital sources lamented. About 82% of the PCPs or OBGYNs in our survey said they can treat mental health, ‘like the kids who come in with anxiety’ or ‘a mom with post-partum’ but ‘severe cases are outside of our comfort zone and scope of practice – it’s a disserve to the patients.’ Hospitals, healthcare investors and educators are trying to find solutions, but they’ll have to be prepared for a host of tough questions too – click here for the full story.