February 21, 2018
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The
Week in Review
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Local health care providers have expanded the capacity to treat behavioral health patients at the
Unity Center, a northeast Portland medical facility operated by Adventist Health, Kaiser Permanente,
Legacy Health and Oregon Health and Sciences University.
Unity Center Fills Need
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
pages 8-13
M ETRO
page 11
C ALENDAR
page 15
Capacity to
treat mental
health grows
Adventist Health, Kaiser Per-
manente, Legacy Health and Ore-
gon Health & Science University
are marking the one year anniver-
sary of the opening of Unity Cen-
ter for Behavioral Health in north-
east Portland by bracing for more
demand for its services.
Starting in April, the jointly run
medical center will add five new
adult inpatient beds, giving it a
total capacity of 85 adult inpatient
beds and 22 inpatient beds for ad-
olescents, ages 9 through 17. The
need comes as the number of indi-
viduals seeking care in psychiatric
emergency service increases.
The Unity Center is a
109,270-square foot, 24-hour be-
havioral health services center
that features the first emergency
room in Oregon and southwest
Washington explicitly designed to
deliver immediate psychiatric care
and a path to recovery for people
experiencing a mental health cri-
sis.
The center was created with the
goal of reducing the boarding time
of behavioral health patients in
hospital emergency departments
and connecting patients with the
right services upon discharge.
The wait time for a bed in a
hospital for behavioral health
patients in crisis used to average
between 40-60 hours for some of
the busiest hospitals. The average
wait time for a bed at the Unity
Center is now eight hours.
In addition, with the help of
partners in law enforcement and
emergency medical services, the
Unity Center has made significant
headway in reframing the con-
versation around how to compas-
sionately treat and care for those
experiencing a mental health
emergency.
For example, Unity has encour-
aged a model of ambulance trans-
port for individuals in a behavioral
health crisis. Today, when police
respond to a 911 call about a per-
son in mental health crisis, there
is a community-wide agreement
in Portland that patients experi-
encing a behavioral health crisis
will be transported to the hospital
via ambulance, not in the back of
a police car. In the last year, over
1,197 patients have arrived at Uni-
ty Center by ambulance.
“For many patients, seeking
help at Unity Center is the first
step in their journey toward im-
proved mental health,” said Dr.
Chris Farentinos, Unity Center
vice president. “Partnering with
dozens of community-based or-
ganizations helps us connect our
patients with social services and
follow-up care so they continue to
receive the support they need after
leaving Unity Center.”
Cold Snap Brings Snow
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
pages 16-17
pages 18
Freezing weather with snow
was forecast to keep its grip on
the Portland area at least through
Thursday as a cold snap brought
the first measureable snowfall
since Christmas Eve to the metro
area and the plummeting tempera-
tures triggered the reopening of
emergency shelters in Multnomah
County.
The National Weather Service
Tuesday was forecasting lows in
the mid 20s and highs in the low
40s throughout the week.
The inclement conditions
caused traffic delays and school
closures. Portland Public Schools
released students two hours early
as snow fell through the morning
Tuesday and was forecast to con-
tinue into the evening. Portland
Community College and several
private colleges also shut down or
closed early Tuesday.
Those in need of warming
shelter services were urged to
sign up for alerts at 211info.org.
If you see someone incapable of
getting help themselves or who
are at risk of exposure or injury,
call 9-1-1 or the county’s mental
health crisis line at 503-988-4888
for help. Information on how to
donate needed cold weather sup-
plies can be found at 211info.org/
donations.