Hospital to close psychiatric ward

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

In a move officials say will ease emergency room congestion, Valley Hospital plans to close its 11-bed adult psychiatric ward, converting it into a 24-bed unit for general patients.

The ward will close at the end of the month, said Mike Tymczyn, marketing director of the Valley Health System. Lake Mead Hospital, as a result of the move, becomes the area's only general hospital with an adult psychiatric ward.

Vic Davis, president of the Nevada chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said the closure will make it even more difficult to find placements for people who rely on Medicaid.

Many mentally ill adults end up stranded in emergency rooms because of a lack of beds, Davis said. In some cases, Medicaid won't cover stays at speciality hospitals and will only pay for treatment at general hospitals with psychiatric wards, Davis said.

"We've got a problem here with the growth we had, and the mentally ill were underserved to begin with," Davis said. "Losing the beds at Valley will hit us hard."

Because of the additional beds, patients can be moved from the emergency room to assigned rooms more quickly, Tymczyn said.

"There's a community need for psych beds. No one is doubting that, but there's a greater need for general beds," Tymczyn said today.

Several of the 15 employees assigned to the ward have already been placed in other departments at the hospital, Tymczyn said. The psychiatric technicians are being offered free training to become certified nursing assistants, Tymczyn said. The registered nurses are being offered training to work in other departments, he said.

Valley Hospital's ward for elderly patients with dementia and Alzheimer's disease will continue to operate, he said.