Bartlett Regional | House Calls | Summer 2019

8 House Calls Summer 2019 By Katie Bausler, Community Relations Director A person may come to the Bartlett Regional Hospital Emergency Department (ED) with back pain—but their more severe problem may be their profound mental health needs or lack of stable, supportive housing. “Some patients don’t always realize all the services available to them,” says Case Management Director Jeannette Lacey. “Maybe they don’t make a primary care appointment because they don’t have transportation or insurance or other necessary systems in place.” A group effort A partnership between multiple community agencies is helping reduce admissions for patients who’ve made multiple hospital visits. The goal of the program is to help patients with issues such as mental illness, substance abuse or lack of housing access community services and become advocates for their own health care. The community navigator program began a few years ago. It connects people in need, in transitional living or who are experiencing homelessness with people who help them with physical and mental health services, appointments, and paperwork. The program is funded by a grant from the Alaska Mental Health Trust and a fund within the Juneau Community Foundation. It is part of a communitywide strategy and national best practice now underway in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks, the Mat-Su and Kenai. “We help them get services, apply for housing or jobs, make appointments, and take them back and forth to appointments,” says Jackie Bryant, one of five community navigators based at St. Vincent de Paul, a nonprofit that provides apartment housing for homeless people in the community. “We try to help them get where they want to go and get off the streets.” Bartlett Social Worker Case Manager Anna Bullock and Nurse Case Manager Claire Geldhof alternate representing Bartlett at weekly meetings with community navigators and the various agencies that assist their clients. How it works Saint Vincent community navigators may call Bartlett case managers and alert them to a client transfer to the Emergency Department (ED). “A navigator will go out and sit in the waiting room while the client/patient waits for a room,” says Anna. “The emergency room can be a trigger for a lot of our mental health patients.” “We have some people with congestive heart failure stage 4 who have nowhere to go,” adds Jackie. Being outside is not good for such clients. Jackie might stay with that person as they visit the ED and/or are admitted to the hospital. She might ask questions to help Working together to help you stay well CASE MANAGEMENT “Some patients don’t always realize all the services available to them.” —CaseManagement Director Jeannette Lacey YOUR TEAM Community partnerships with case management help patients stay healthy—and out of the hospital