“My emotional health just came unraveled. I went to the hospital and said hey, I’m in crisis.”
Daniel Verrier of Eugene had reached a low point when he was admitted to the emergency department at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District. When his condition stabilized, he might have created a dilemma for the hospital: either keep him “boarding” in the emergency department even though his condition had improved, or discharge him into the community when he still needed behavioral health treatment.
Now there’s an answer called the Guest House, a 10-bedroom respite care center recently opened near the hospital.
“It bridges the gap between those patients that don’t meet the criteria for a psychiatric hospital but also really do need some added support,” said Janet Perez, LCSW, PeaceHealth Manager of Behavioral Health Services. “Boarding is difficult, it’s difficult on the patient. When they’re at the Guest House, it reduces the length of stay in the ED. What that Guest House does is it begins to give that person a sense of safety, they’re being taken care of, while they work on connecting them to resources.”
All the guests stay in a private room, which Verrier said was a major help to his recovery. “I’m hyper vigilant, PTSD real bad, and I didn’t know what to do and so my life would come to an abrupt halt,” he said. “I didn’t really know how to relax until I went there. I was still kind of working on it. To have my own private space where regardless of if I’m having a good day or not, that’s my private space to be was like a really big gift.”
The Guest House services include group therapy and counseling available anytime day or night. Guests enjoy delicious healthy meals prepared by staff. Many are grateful for the peace and the ability to rest.
“One thing I’ve noticed is they’ve gotten more sleep, they’re coming out and talking to people more,” said Jedanndrila Bushnell, Residential Crisis Therapist. “We’ve had one client who said this place really changed his life and he’s never gotten this kind of help before even from other places.”
The Guest House is a collaboration between PeaceHealth and ColumbiaCare, an integrated behavioral health services agency. Plans to open the facility could have been upended by the pandemic, but leaders pushed ahead.
“It’s a great testimony to our collaboration with our county, CCOs, and Columbia Care to be able to get this up and running in a time of pandemic,” said Alicia Beymer, Chief Administrative Officer at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart University District. “It’s exciting to know that we can do that in this sense of adversity.”
Beymer applauds the increase in state funding for behavioral health services included in the budget passed in 2021. “We look at mental health care holistically, caring for mind body and spirit, so with the state funding, it allows us to reach the individual where they’re at and provide compassionate care that’s innovative.”
“There is an opportunity for us to wrap that individual in compassion and love throughout the continuum of care.”
Daniel Verrier has felt that sense of safety and support at the Guest House.
“To have a place that was helping me out without being at a hospital was, is, everything. I’ve got tears of joy just thinking about it.”