Historic partnership expands mental health services in Illinois
A historic partnership between SIU School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Packard Mental Health Center (PMHC) will expand psychiatric services by building on Illinois' behavioral health workforce.
Funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Division of Mental Health, this collaboration will support the
psychiatry department at SIU School of Medicine by funding two new residents, increasing the residency program from six to eight residents per year. This collaboration also works to expand much-needed mental health services and quality care in the community.
Kari Wolf, MD, chair of psychiatry at SIU School of Medicine and CEO of the Behavioral Health Workforce Center, highlighted the importance of providing residents with first-hand experience treating patients with serious and long-term mental health challenges.
“Residents are more likely to pursue careers in environments where they have gained experience during their residency. This partnership is an opportunity for our residents to get exposure working in state-operated facilities, so hopefully when they graduate, some will work in other state-operated facilities around Illinois.”
Residents will also gain a deeper understanding of the structure and mission of State Operated Psychiatric Hospitals (SOPH).
"In the face of a nationwide shortage of psychiatric providers in the behavioral health workforce, it is vital to cultivate new professionals who are well-versed in our state-operated settings. These residents will acquire hands-on experience working with both civil and forensic patients, familiarize themselves with State government policies and practices, and discover the profound rewards of a career in State service," said Dr. David Albert, Director of the Division of Mental Health, IDHS.
All psychiatry residents and their faculty mentor will take turns rotating through PMHC. Along with the newly added experience at an SOPH, the rotations will include other community organizations, such as Sangamon County’s Community Mental Health Center and Memorial Behavioral Health’s collaboration with the SIU Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), providing a well-rounded residency to prepare them for future career opportunities.
"Through relaunching this program, residents will have firsthand experience working with patients with significant mental health conditions. The work will be challenging, and also deeply rewarding," said IDHS Secretary Designate, Dulce Quintero. "We look forward to training tomorrow’s physicians and hope many will choose to continue their service with the State."
SIU School of Medicine has a longstanding history of collaboration with state-operated facilities in Illinois. In the 1980s, the school partnered with IDHS to provide care at several mental health centers, including PMHC (formerly McFarland Mental Health Center), as well as facilities in Alton, Anna and Chester. Notable initiatives included a rural psychiatry residency track at Choate Mental Health Center in Anna and a forensic psychiatry fellowship at the centers in Alton and Chester. However, these partnerships diminished over time and ceased by 2012.
Recently, mental health care has received renewed emphasis and efforts are underway to build Illinois’ behavioral health workforce. In response, the partnership with PMHC has been revitalized and marks the beginning of a critical effort to rebuild the behavioral health workforce across the state.
“SIU School of Medicine values its partnerships and believes we can help the state improve the health of the people in Illinois. This partnership is a first step in building the workforce,” Wolf said. “We hope to build more partnerships around workforce development and help create a robust workforce for the state’s future. This includes roles for psychiatrists as well as all jobs needed to run these state-operated facilities.”
