NNMC expands Senior Bridges

A growing population of retirees in northern Nevada and the aging of the Baby Boom generation are bringing expansion to a psychiatric program at Northern Nevada Medical Center for people aged 50-plus.

The hospital at Sparks in recent weeks doubled the size of the inpatient unit in its Senior Bridges program, and it's recording steady increases in its outpatient program as well.

The addition of 14 beds to the inpatient program, which now occupies the entire fourth floor of NNMC, required the hiring of three nurses, says Program Director Michael Todd.

Within days after the expanded facilities were opened, about half the 14 additional beds were utilized.

"We filled an additional six beds just by opening," Todd says.

The Senior Bridges inpatient program treats people with behavioral health problems so severe that they require hospitalization. Patients often also have medical complications that also are addressed by the hospital staff.

A typical stay is 12 to 14 days, and patients are about 70 years old on average, Todd says.

The inpatient program employs 27 nurses and nursing assistants, a recreation therapist and three social workers.

It also uses other hospital staff such as physical therapists, Todd says, and its staff can draw on the support of Spring Mountain Treatment Center. Like NNMC, Spring Mountain is owned by Universal Health Services Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa.

Expanded facilities also are spurring growth of the Senior Bridges outpatient program, which provides psychological therapy and other assistance to people aged 50 and older.

Debbie Prince-Lewis, who heads the outpatient program, says expansion into a 4,200-square-foot space at the Sparks Medical Building next to the hospital allowed doubling of the outpatient program to about 50 patients.

She says aging Baby Boomers have a different attitude toward psychological therapy than their parents, and that's spurring some of the program's growth.

The World War II generation, Prince-Lewis says, is more likely to remain stoic in the face of personal difficulties, preferring to work out matters without help. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, not only are willing to seek help, they expect it.