Psychiatric Unit

To Pam Haines, clinical manager of Carroll County General's psychiatric unit, psychiatric nursing presents a challenge that is lacking in other areas of medicine."

Carl Edgell doesn't enjoy going to the hospital. But he doesn't want to hurt anyone, either. The 44-year-old homeless man has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. At times when he has felt that he has reached a breaking point, he has taken himself to a local emergency room. Each time, he says, the experience has been different. When he has been referred to a psychiatric unit, he says, he has found the physicians and nurses "compassionate.

The last patient of Anne Arundel Medical Center's psychiatric unit was discharged yesterday, and with her departure, the 15-year-old unit is now effectively closed.Hospital administrators, who need state approval to officially shut down the unit, said there is no real need for it, given the low admission rates for the past two years.But some mental health professionals say it should remain open as a community service, and they fear the quality of patient care will deteriorate if the unit closes.

As a member of the community that St. Joseph Medical Center serves, as one whose family has received care at St Joseph, and as a former employee, I appreciate the recent commentary by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien ("St. Joseph Medical Center: A Catholic tradition of reverence, integrity, compassion and excellence," Jan. 1). It has been with great sadness that I have observed the reputation of the hospital being diminished. As the archbishop points out, its history has been a proud one focused on providing quality care for the people of Baltimore.

The closing of Anne Arundel Medical Center's 12-bed psychiatric unit may not be the done deal administrators had expected when they stopped taking patients there five weeks ago.Although the Annapolis hospital asked the state's permission to close the unit April 21, the state agency regulating hospital services has delayed its decision, said a spokeswoman, based on "weighty and serious" questions raised at a public hearing May 18."Normally, there would be a decision within 45 days," said Susan P. Panek, spokeswoman for the Maryland Health Resources Planning Commission.

North Arundel Hospital's psychiatric ward will remain open for at least another year, a change in plan from late last year when hospital officials threatened to close the 15-bed unit, which they said was losing money. The Glen Burnie hospital's psychiatric unit serves between 60 and 70 patients a month. A decision by a state commission will let North Arundel raise some of the rates it charges patients throughout the hospital and use the increase to pay for psychiatric unit losses. "I can't really say it's going to be [open]

The state has given Union Memorial Hospital a six-month trial period to run a community psychiatric program taken over from financially troubled Homewood Hospital, a neighboring facility going out of business.If the experiment goes well, Union Memorial will be able to assume control of the 35-bed program permanently, according to John Colmers, executive director of the Health Services Cost Review Commission. His agency approved the temporary takeover earlier this month.Homewood lost nearly $3.7 million in 1990 due to changing patient needs and low occupancy rates, and is winding down its operations.

North Arundel Hospital puts out press release after press release proclaiming its "commitment to the needs of the community." Yet on June 1, NAH will deep-six one of the health services the community needs most: a detoxification unit for drug addicts.The reason is money.The 12-bed program has been losing money for years, and will cost $1.5 million this year. NAH says it can't afford it, even though detox is the only service at the hospital that doesn't turn a profit.So what happens to the 100 to 120 addicts NAH has been treating every month?

The state survey team that sampled patients' medical records at Carroll County General Hospital faulted the hospital's record-keeping in four main areas: the psychiatric unit, surgery, nursing care and anesthesia.The team also found drugs on a counter in the medication room of a minor surgery suite. Hospitals are required to keep drugs locked in storage.Hospital officials said the drugs were not narcotics or other medicines that might be attractive to thieves.The drugs included a sedative, and antibiotic, ulcer and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Four days before a final decision was expected to allow Anne Arundel Medical Center to close its psychiatric unit, hospital officials have asked state regulators for a postponement while they consider other options.Hospital administrators want time to study whether to move psychiatric services to their new Pathways facility, a free-standing drug and alcohol treatment center for adolescents Riva Road.Fran D. Counihan, vice president of public relations and marketing, said the hospital still plans to close the 12-bed psychiatric unit in its building on Franklin Street in Annapolis, which administrators say was inefficient and under-used.

Dr. Nathan Schnaper, an eminent psychiatrist who was known for his work with patients and their families at the Greenebaum Cancer Center, died Monday in his sleep at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The longtime Sudbrook Park resident was 92. "He had been rapidly failing over the last several weeks," said his son-in-law, Dr. James M. Carlton, a Baltimore hand surgeon. "On Monday, he had eaten a lunch of a corned beef sandwich, potato chips, an Entemann's chocolate doughnut and some Gatorade," Dr. Carlton said.

North Arundel Hospital's psychiatric ward will remain open for at least another year, a change in plan from late last year when hospital officials threatened to close the 15-bed unit, which they said was losing money. The Glen Burnie hospital's psychiatric unit serves between 60 and 70 patients a month. A decision by a state commission will let North Arundel raise some of the rates it charges patients throughout the hospital and use the increase to pay for psychiatric unit losses. "I can't really say it's going to be [open]

PARIS -- A young Frenchman with neo-Nazi connections fired at least one shot at President Jacques Chirac yesterday morning as the French leader was being driven in an open jeep down the Champs-Elysees before the start of the annual Bastille Day military parade, police said. Chirac was not hurt. The police said the man, Maxime Brunerie, 25, who was wrestled to the ground by spectators before he was arrested, admitted planning to assassinate Chirac and then commit suicide. Brunerie, a student and part-time chauffeur who lives in the Paris suburbs, was "known to belong to neo-Nazi and hooligan movements," including a far-right student group, the police said.

Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore marked yesterday the official opening of its 17-room, $2.1 million renovated obstetric unit.Generally, the unit allows the patient to stay in one "home-like" room for labor, delivery, recovery and post-birth hospital stay. Some traditional rooms are also available for patients recovering from deliveries with complications."Doing it all in one room is something the patients really like," said Mark Feldman, vice president of marketing and planning for the hospital.

Carroll Hall, a psychiatric rehabilitation program that has served the county's mentally ill for 19 years, will close Jan. 30.Expected cost increases and pressure from state health officials to privatize services contributed to the county health department's decision to end the program when its lease runs out in January, said Larry L. Leitch, deputy county health officer.Operating out of a blue building at 181 E. Main St. in Westminster, Carroll Hall serves about 90 clients, many of whom have spent time in psychiatric hospitals.

To Pam Haines, clinical manager of Carroll County General's psychiatric unit, psychiatric nursing presents a challenge that is lacking in other areas of medicine."

As a member of the community that St. Joseph Medical Center serves, as one whose family has received care at St Joseph, and as a former employee, I appreciate the recent commentary by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien ("St. Joseph Medical Center: A Catholic tradition of reverence, integrity, compassion and excellence," Jan. 1). It has been with great sadness that I have observed the reputation of the hospital being diminished. As the archbishop points out, its history has been a proud one focused on providing quality care for the people of Baltimore.

Four days before a final decision was expected to allow Anne Arundel Medical Center to close its psychiatric unit, hospital officials have asked state regulators for a postponement while they consider other options.Hospital administrators want time to study whether to move psychiatric services to their new Pathways facility, a free-standing drug and alcohol treatment center for adolescents Riva Road.Fran D. Counihan, vice president of public relations and marketing, said the hospital still plans to close the 12-bed psychiatric unit in its building on Franklin Street in Annapolis, which administrators say was inefficient and under-used.

The state survey team that sampled patients' medical records at Carroll County General Hospital faulted the hospital's record-keeping in four main areas: the psychiatric unit, surgery, nursing care and anesthesia.The team also found drugs on a counter in the medication room of a minor surgery suite. Hospitals are required to keep drugs locked in storage.Hospital officials said the drugs were not narcotics or other medicines that might be attractive to thieves.The drugs included a sedative, and antibiotic, ulcer and anti-inflammatory drugs.