FORT LAUDERDALE -- Answering the area's growing need for comprehensive mental health services for aging residents, Florida Medical Center (FMC) is pleased to announce the opening of the Senior Behavioral Health Program, the only inpatient mental health program in Broward County dedicated to the treatment of older adults.
The program strives to help seniors cope with mental health issues and return to optimal levels of functioning. The Senior Behavioral Health Program offers acute care treatment for patients age 62 and older in need of a secure, therapeutic environment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Upon admission to the Senior Behavioral Health program, each patient receives a comprehensive medical and psychiatric assessment. Our treatment team identifies and treats the psychiatric illness as well as the medical issues often present in our senior population. The Senior Behavioral Health Program is located within Florida Medical Center to ensure access to other hospital programs if needed.
Patricia Salgado, RN, MA, Director of the new program, states, "It's important that we recognize the warning signs that appear in older adults who are close to us, whether family or friend. Receiving the right diagnosis and treatment can make a tremendous difference in an individual's quality of life."
Some warning signs that might indicate the need for treatment are:
- Social withdrawal
- Change in eating/sleeping habits
- Loss of interest in personal appearance
- Increased forgetfulness or confusion
- Aggressive or combative behavior
- Refusing to take medications
- Suicidal thoughts/Recurrent thoughts of death
- Delusions or hallucinations
- Paranoia.
The stigma of seeking mental health treatment is a bigger factor among older adults, many of whom grew up at a time when having a mental health problem was often considered synonymous with being incompetent.
This misconception results in only half of the geriatric population acknowledging mental health problems and receiving treatment from a health care provider, and only a fraction of those receive specialty mental health services. This rate of utilization is lower than for any other adult age group.
Florida Medical Center, part of Tenet's Miami-Dade/Broward Health Network, is a 459-bed acute care hospital founded in 1973 and fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
Located at 5000 West Oakland Park Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale in western Broward County, Florida Medical Center offers a broad range of medical and surgical services. Its Heart Institute of Florida, the hospital's center for cardiac services, is designated a Premium Cardiac Specialty Center by UnitedHealthcare.
The hospital earned the Pulmonary Care Excellence Award for 2008 from HealthGrades, the leading ratings organization for hospitals and physicians, and it also earned five-star ratings from HealthGrades for its treatment of heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, pneumonia, hip fractures and other ailments.
FMC's additional services include neurology and neurosurgery, cancer care, orthopedics, urology, psychiatry, gynecology, imaging, pain center, sleep lab, wound care, and 24-hour emergency servies.
Whether you are a consumer, a family member, a provider, or a member of the general public, you may call the Senior Behavioral Health Program (954) 717-7714 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for further information or to make a referral.
Additional information on Florida Medical Center is available by calling (954) 735-6000.