For years, Hillside has provided residential and outpatient mental health treatment for kids and teens on their Atlanta campus, nestled in a forested neighborhood near Piedmont Park. Since the pandemic, the young patients coming to Hillside have been arriving more ill. Many have tried to harm themselves. The symptoms are more intense and the waitlist for care is long.
“These kiddos are desperate,” says Dr. Adam Silberman, Hillside’s medical director. “They’ve been on God knows how many medication regimens and through different providers, and they’re sicker than ever before, and we try to put the pieces together as much as we can in the time we’re allotted, based on insurance, which doesn’t provide a lot.”
The need for mental health services is exploding in Georgia, but there are nowhere near enough providers. In fact, Georgia ranks last in the country for access to mental health care. A bill to overhaul the mental health system in Georgia is wading through the legislature. Improving mental healthcare will require drawing more psychiatrists, therapists, and nurses — and keeping them in the field.
Kimberly Young, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who manages Hillside’s nursing department and residential treatment, says reform is overdue.
“The world outside of here is also very dark, and people are struggling and then we come here every day, and so it’s definitely taking a toll on our staff,” Young says. “It’s taken a toll on all of us, and our passion continues to bring us back. But our nursing staff, our residential staff, our therapists, every department has been hit with resignations.”
Read more at Wabe.org.
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