Three Rivers Behavioral Health to open in West Mifflin

An open house was held at the facility Wednesday to allow the public to meet staff and learn what the facility is all about.

A new psychiatric facility offering inpatient and outpatient treatment will soon be open in West Mifflin.

Three Rivers Behavioral Health and Residential care, located at 4043 Irene St., provides inpatient mental health treatment for older adults, adult residential treatment, and adult intensive outpatient programs. These services are designed to provide trauma informed, short-term care and treatment to individuals with psychiatric diagnoses.

Three Rivers Behavioral Health Inpatient Hospitalization is designed for adults ages 55 and older who are experiencing acute psychiatric symptoms. The facility will also have a designated floor for ages 18 and older for residential care.

Mental health disorders among older adults account for 10.6% of the total years lived with a disability for this age group, and approximately 14% of adults aged 60 or over live with a mental disorder. One in six older adults also experience abuse, often by their own caregivers.

That is what inspired Three Rivers Behavioral Health Chief Executive Officer Amber Cline to bring mental health services into the area, in addition to being surrounded by loved ones in need of care.

“I have been in mental health for 20 years. Being the advocate for the patient has been my primary role as a nurse, and we really believe in person-centered care here,” said Cline, of Elizabeth. “That person comes first before the diagnosis. Most places take 55 and older, and it’s a hard no for younger people. Now we can consider them.”

An open house was held at the facility Wednesday to allow the public to meet staff and learn what the facility is all about.

According to Cline, the facility is housed in an old nursing home and renovations should be finished soon. She expects the facility to be open in about two weeks.

Among the diagnoses staff treat are anxiety, depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, traumatic stress and behavior disturbances.

Cline said the facility is an option for those seeking treatment outside of the typical hospital setting. Many locations are closing, and many are hard to find.

“So many units have closed in the past few years,” Cline said. “There are geriatric patients in the general adult units, and that’s a nightmare. Those patients are too fragile to be with 28-year-olds.”

Three Rivers Behavioral Health also provides group and individual therapies, comprehensive treatments and more.

“The nice thing about this facility is it’s a geriatric psych hospital,” said staff member Sarah Cotterill. “In the usual geriatric psych hospital, they usually stay the 17 days, and they come in because of medication type things, but they need that additional care. A lot of our patients come from nursing homes, but not all. What makes it different is this is adult, geriatric and when you go to other places, it’s not like that.”

The facility can also treat individuals with a primary psychiatric diagnosis and a secondary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke or other neuropsychiatric disorders unlike most psychiatric mental health inpatient units.

These services are designed to provide trauma- informed, short term care and treatment with psychiatric diagnoses. They hope to be recognized as a leading psychiatric residential treatment program with goals of integrity, respect and excellence.

The staff of 48 people will deliver trauma-informed patient and family-centered psychiatric care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, filled with psychologists, nurse practitioners, dietitians, therapists and more. They want to have over 100 employees.

Clinical liaison Liz Schaal said she is excited for the new opening along with several other employees, including human resources director Patty Larson, IOP Social Work Supervisor Kelly Petro.

They also said they are trying to make the food delicious and have fun activities for patients. New patients will be coming in soon, they have to go through the accreditation process and some patients may come from the community or a referral from the local hospitals.

Cotterill said they looked for places that were underserved in mental health resources as places to open for different communities, and said the area was a good fit. They also have a bus to pick people up, and their new bed units have all the psychiatric needs.

“It’s great. We get to serve the patients, we get to serve the caregivers and families through our facilities,” Cotterill said. “We get to lighten the load. Our patients aren’t going to walk out of here perfect the way that they were at age 20, but if we can make it a better ride for them and their caregivers, then it’s a win.”

Cline added that everything she has learned about Three Rivers Behavioral Health has spoken to her heart.

“It’s a whole building full of heart that wants to give everyone their grandma’s care,” Cline said.

More information about the facility can be found at www.trbhcares.com or 412706-9201.