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f Memorial Hospital's expanded Mental Health Unit is .now in service. ' , The unit provides rooms and other facilities for 10 in­ patients. When the unit opened for eight patients in 1981, it was an integrated program -- that is, the patients were in the hospital with medical and surgical patients. The clients are cared for by staff members from Memorial Hospital and the Family Service and Commu­ nity Mental Health Center of McHenry County. Joyce Winters, clinical coordinator, said Memorial Hospital and the Family Service Center have cooperated closely to develop the Mental Health unit. The relationship with Family Service makes this program unique and oneof the few in the nation that maintains a close liaison both while the patient is in the hospital and after discharge, thus maintaining continuity of care. The new Memorial Hospital Mental Health unit is a more secure area. It includes a family room, recreation room, and kitchen facilities. The emphasis is on a homey, - comfortable, safe atmosphere where people can relate to one another. The program offers individuals under stress to work out their problems in different ways, ranging from group sessions, individual recreational therapy, psychodrama, skills in assertiveness training, and problem solving techniques. All of these programs are geared to make individuals capable of dealing with their situation in the community. The unit's approach is to help clients become able to make necessary changes, either in themselves or their environment, thus enabling them to cope with their situation in a better way" The Memorial Hospital unit philosophy is to get the client back into the community as soon as possible. ""Stress js the inevitable outcome ot living and sometimes being in a progfam like this helps you look at those stresses more objectively and learn to explore more effective ways of dealing with it," said Mrs Winters. "We see the family as a significant and integral part of our program. Often the families are involved in a family session with the client to help make the necessary changes or provide the needed support. Theclient isonly part of a whole system, and you cannot treat them separately," she concluded. -4 *y1 " ' -3- This view during the open house shows the family room which includes the dining table, kitchen facilities and the posted daily schedule. Executives ot the 4wo organizations responsible for the devel­ opment and operation of the new Mental Health Unit tour the facilities during the open house--Lee Pesce, Memorial Hospital executive director; Scott Campbell, Family Service associate director; Joyce Winters, clinical coordinator of the unit at the hospital; and Robert Martens, Family Service executive director. Mental Health Unit Is lp Service