The unit is the largest expansion in the NICU's history, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania.
- California: Psychiatrist Lewis Judd, one of the top mental health officials in the United States and a leading advocate for brain science, died last month from cardiac arrest. Judd served as chair of the National Institute of Mental Health from 1988 to 1992, during which time he established the research program called the Decade of the Brain, which aimed to better understand the brain to support mental health research and treatment (Langer, Washington Post, 1/11).
- Mississippi: Friends of Children's Hospital on Thursday received a $1.25 million donation from Sanderson Farms Championship to build a new pediatric tower for Batson Children's Hospital. The tower will include 88 rooms in the neonatal intensive care unit, 10 operating rooms, a pediatric imaging center, and will house the hospital's Children's Heart Center. The tower's construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2019 (Carroll, WJTV, 1/10).
- Pennsylvania: Allegheny Health Network West Penn Hospital opened its new neonatal intensive care unit on Wednesday. The unit, which has all private rooms and 23 beds, is the largest expansion West Penn's NICU has seen, according to an Allegheny Health release. Allegheny Health will expand the rest of the NICU this year to accommodate 63 babies by 2020 (Haefner, Becker's Hospital Review, 1/10; Allegheny Health release, 1/9).
Six steps to integrate behavioral health with other care
Behavioral health issues can exacerbate other health conditions and make patients less likely to comply with important care plan aspects. Since most patients are diagnosed in the primary care setting, integrated behavioral health models can ensure patients follow through with referrals to mental health care.
Download our toolkit to find resources to effectively address six critical components of an integrated behavioral health program.