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Lifting Patients Out of Crisis and Into Recovery

Lifting Patients Out of Crisis and Into Recovery

Kristen and Amanda Smiling

Kristen Bologna and Amanda Greenwell are Tri-City Medical Center’s Psychiatric Liaisons. “Every day is different, and because people are in crisis, they are very vulnerable. We get to be their advocates,” Bologna and Greenwell said.
Psychiatric liaisons are many patients’ first resource when they’re facing a mental health crises in TCMC’s emergency room. Once a physician determines the patient is in a mental health crisis, they will submit for a consultation with the psychiatric liaisons. The liaisons then meet with and assess the patient to determine a recovery plan. “People come in with severe mental illness and are in a terrible place. We lift people out of their crisis,” said Amanda. Next steps could include scheduling the patient an appointment with TCMC’s Outpatient Behavioral Health Services Department, which provides a robust curriculum for patients including group and individual therapy.

During Greenwell’s and Bologna’s time at Tri-City Medical Center, they created strong relationships with mental health resources in the community to ensure the highest level of care for their patients. “We have connections in the community to collaborate with and ensure we provide the best mental health resources for our patients.”

Their passion for collaborating with our community and giving back to their profession led them to partner with local colleges to provide an internship program. They will be taking their first intern this fall and are looking forward to expanding the program in preparation for opening TCMC’s brand new Psychiatric Health Facility opening in late 2023. The Psychiatric Health Facility will be on the Tri-City Medical Center Campus in partnership with San Diego County.

The new facility will allow for top tier mental health care in our community. Kristen and Amanda are looking forward to ensuring patients get the care they need faster and in the best environment for recovery. “When we have a mental health facility across the street, we can get patients care sooner, reducing the length of stay in the emergency department and placing them into a therapeutic space made for their recovery.”

For more information on plans for the opening of the psychiatric health facility, please visit the San Diego County Website

2022-07-28T08:53:50-07:00
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