Center for Change offers a short-term triage and stabilization program to meet the needs of families who may have limited financial resources and/or limited insurance benefit coverage. The anticipated length of stay in this short-term program will likely be between 7 and 21 days, depending on individual circumstances and need. Patients who may benefit from this program include those who are actively engaged in treatment with a solid and consistent outpatient treatment team but who may be going through a particularly difficult time and require stabilization, patients who are in a partial hospitalization program or intensive outpatient program who are deteriorating and need some short-term stabilization with the intent to return to structured care, those who are in need of intensive medical and clinical stabilization, treatment triage, and aftercare recommendations, patients who need inpatient care but whose insurance or personal financial resources will not allow longer term care, and patients who would otherwise be treated for their eating disorder on a general psychiatric unit or hospital medical floor that does not provide the structure, behavioral intervention, and specialization of an eating disorder program.

POPULATION SERVED:

• Adult and adolescent female patients ages 13 years through adulthood
• Primary diagnosis of eating disorder
• Other significant co-existing mental and emotional illness
• Moderate suicide risk
• Secondary and co-occurring drug or alcohol dependence
• Need for inpatient medical, emotional, mental, or behavioral stabilization
• Seriously compromised medical or mental condition secondary to eating disorder

Exclusionary criterion includes a primary diagnosis of psychosis with florid psychotic symptoms, severe suicidal risk with suicidal intention, history of sexual aggression or sexual predatory behavior, history of and deemed high risk for aggressive or violent behavior towards others, and physical or medical condition which demands admission into a medical/surgical or ICU unit.

SERVICES PROVIDED:

• Initial psychiatric examination including mental status exam
• Initial History & Physical (medical exam)
• Initial psycho-social assessment
• Labs, EKG, other tests
• Stabilization of medical condition
• Stabilization of mental / emotional condition
• Medical, psychological, and dietary treatment of eating disorder
• Brain and body re-nourishment with liquid, electrolyte, and initial weight restoration
• Initial re-feeding intervention including N/G tube feeding where necessary
• Structures to remedy self-defeating behavior patterns
• Development of formal treatment plan, including outside treatment team coordination
• Discharge planning, disposition, and aftercare initial coordination
• Coordination of discharge into appropriate level of care or aftercare

ADMISSION PROCESS:

The admission process begins with a call to the admission team at 1-888-224-8250. A clinical assessment, as well as an insurance and financial review, will assure that patients are admitted as clinically and medically appropriate and as insurance benefits and financial resources will allow.