To raise awareness of eating disorders and of the impact of the cultural infatuation with impossible and sometimes deadly body images, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) hosts National Eating Disorders Week Feb. 24 through March 1, 2008.

We’ve put together this media alert for you to read and distribute while you prepare for your upcoming coverage.

Article, Resources Available

Rogers Memorial Hospital is a major treatment center in the nation’s ongoing struggle against eating disorders. Consider checking out Rogers Memorial’s Web site, where we have a collection of resources for you to use in your upcoming coverage of National Eating Disorders Week. We also have a 700 word article up at our Web site available for you to run or adapt for your publication.

NEDA has a great collection of fact sheets provide the most accurate and up-to-date information on eating disorders, including statistics that add relevance and importance to your stories.

Media Contact Information

Rogers Memorial Hospital: All media requests can be made to Communications Specialist Gabe Wollenburg. Call (262) 646-1389.
NEDA: For national and major regional media requests, please contact Susan Kayne, Marketing & Communications Director, (212) 575-6200 ext. 2. For other regional media requests, please contact Tonia Brown, (206) 382-3587 ext. 18.

To learn more, please call 800.767.4411 or visit Rogers Memorial online at www.rogershopital.org.

Rogers Memorial Hospital Treats Patients With Multiple Disorders In New Facility

Summit, Wisc. -Many people are shocked to learn that Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of all causes of death for females 15 to 24 years old.
“A thin body is perceived as a simple answer for acceptance and happiness,” said Tracey Cornella-Carlson MD, a staff psychiatrist with Rogers Memorial Hospital’s Eating Disorders Services. “The perception is that it is ‘bad’ to be overweight and everyone should strive to become thin,” she said.
This is a perception that Rogers Memorial is working toward changing by serving as a sponsor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, February 24 – March 1, 2008.
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week highlights the fact that body size and shape are strongly influenced by biological factors – such as genetics. The week-long observation also calls attention to some of the new discoveries surrounding the role of genetics in the development of eating disorders. Too often individuals struggle against their natural, genetically influenced size just to fit into that pair of “skinny jeans” in the back of their closets. Fighting your natural size and shape can lead to unhealthy dieting practices, poor body image and sometimes eating disorders.
Rogers Memorial Hospital’s nationally recognized Eating Disorders Services treat those suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating, and other disorders, using proven, evidence-based treatment components that give individuals the best chance at recovery, said Cornella-Carlson.
In fact, the week of Feb. 10, Rogers Memorial Hospital opened a $2 million expansion of The Eating Disorders Center. The newest facility, located about a mile down the road from the hospital’s town of Summit campus, expands Rogers Memorial’s ability to treat adult women with eating disorders, and creates a location specializing in treating adults with co¬occurring anxiety disorders.
“We’re excited to have a chance to expand our effective eating disorders program. This is a very serious disorder in today’s society,” said Ted Weltzin MD, Medical Director of Eating Disorders Services at Rogers Memorial. “By expanding our program, we are helping many more people who deserve and really need the kind of treatment we offer.”
Weltzin said Rogers Memorial Hospital offers three levels of care for individuals with eating disorders. The primary goals of treatment are to achieve nutritional stability, to identify and correct errors in thinking (such as body image distortions and perfectionism), and to address other obstacles to maintaining recovery. The hospital’s treatment approach encourages self-empowerment, from admission to discharge and aftercare planning, individuals are involved in every step of the treatment process, Weltzin said.
Rogers Memorial Hospital is a nonprofit behavioral health care provider for children, adolescents, adults and older adults. The hospital is nationally recognized for its residential treatment centers including the Eating Disorder Center, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Center, Child Center and the Child and Adolescent Center. Rogers Memorial also provides residential treatment services for chemical dependency. Inpatient and partial hospitalization services are also available. Rogers Memorial is licensed as a psychiatric hospital by the State of Wisconsin and accredited by the Joint Commission. It offers treatment programs at four Wisconsin locations: Oconomowoc, Milwaukee, Kenosha and Brown Deer.
To learn more, please call 800.767.4411 or visit Rogers Memorial online at www.rogershopital.org.
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If you’d like more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview, please contact Gabe Wollenburg at 262.646.1389 or send email to gwollenburg@rogershospital.org.

Download Eating Disorders Week PDF

Here’s a shot from the third floor of some of the crowd gathered in Madison Wisconsin for Mental Health Parity Action Day. Rogers Memorial Hospital was represented by over 20 people, including board members, students and staff.

Monday’s Milwaukee Journal -Sentinel published a great editorial penned by Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, one of the key organizers of tomorrow’s Mental Health Parity Day in Madison.

“On Wednesday, hundreds of us who are in the know, who understand how important mental health parity is to our state’s economic outlook, will make the journey to the Capitol from every corner of the state. Our message to the Legislature: We can no longer afford the status quo. We need mental health parity now.

“Parity in insurance coverage for mental illness – providing the same benefits and same limits for mental illness as for other forms of illness – is a smart strategy to increase the size of our work force, increase productivity and retention, reduce absenteeism and dramatically bring down health care costs of a significant number of people. Fully 50% to 70% of visits to primary care physicians are for medical complaints that stem from psychological factors.”

Read the whole article at JSonline, and we’ll see you in Madison tomorrow.

Mental Health Parity Action Day is this Wednesday and Rogers will be well represented by our Board, medical leadership, staff and members of the public who are traveling with us.

It is time for Wisconsin to join other states and recognize that the current outdated law in Statute of limiting medically necessary treatment for addiction and mental illness to $7,000 annually must be changed! We all know too many people whose lives have been impacted either directly or indirectly by addiction or mental illness and that experience has shown us that there should be no difference in the coverage people are provided. Addiction and Mental Illness are no different then someone with a chronic illness or disease. Sadly however, it appears that despite all of the research that clearly shows addiction and mental illness are no less important then primary care diagnosis and in fact are intrinsically linked to physical health, it is stigma and fear that are at the heart of this issue.  When I worked for Governor Thompson as the Administrator for the Division of Children and Families, I saw everyday the devastating costs to our communities, employers and governments from untreated mental illness and addiction. Our courts and corrections systems see this reality everyday.

As you know, I am a Republican and have proudly been a member of the GOP my entire adult life. I am standing up for Mental Health Parity because I believe good public policy comes from lifting up our values and ideals as a Party and then working together across policy lines to shape a consensus that best serves the public in the long term. I know that many people state that the current proposed legislation on Parity is but another mandate on employers and therefore they are not even willing to come to the table. While I do not want to place unfair burdens on employers, let’s keep in mind that the current health insurance system we operate under is a series of mandates. Until there is a wholesale change of the current system and laws at the national and state level, mental health coverage should be treated the same as other primary illnesses. Employers who already provide mental health parity are to be commended for realizing that it is good for their employees and therefore their bottom line profits to have a healthy workforce in both mind and body. Rogers Memorial Hosptial, an employer of over 750 people, provides parity to its employees.

My father in law, the late Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus was a true statesman who understood that we cannot serve the people if we polarize issues on party lines and not come together to find common ground for moving forward. That is why, I will be honored this Wednesday to introduce Lt. Gov. Barbra Lawton at the opening session for Mental Health Action Parity Day.

Rogers Memorial Hospital serves people who through medical necessity need treatment for debilitating addictions and mental illnesses. Everyday we work with individuals and families who come up on this outdated legislatively controlled and artificial $7,000 annual cap on their coverage.  While I agree, for most people who need outpatient services and medication management, $7,000 per year might cover them, the people we see at Rogers who need medically necessary inpatient, residential and partial hospitalization end up exhausting their benefits and often take out second mortgages, liquidating college funds and savings or even worse have to limit their treatment before they have been adequately served.

We try to raise dollars through our foundation and provide as much charity care as we can as a non profit. Last year we provided over 1500 charity days of care and $175,000 in patient scholarships. Why should people with addiction or mental illness have to rely on the generosity of others or completely liquidate their limited assets in order to  receive effective treatment? Let me share a couple of short anecdotes from real patients we have served.

One of our patients is a teen girl being treated for an eating disorder. She struggles with rigid thinking patterns and a focus on an unrealistic body image. She was initially admitted to the residential Eating Disorder Center for a few weeks, and then transferred to the Rogers Inpatient Unit for a few weeks due to an excessively low body weight. Upon return to the residential Eating Disorder Center she has made great strides in her treatment and has been able to maintain her weight. Insurance has not covered her residential stay and the family has struggled with financial hardships to help her stay in treatment and get the help she needs.

Another patient is a teen male being treated for severe OCD that would require several months of residential treatment. Prior to his admission, he had not left his home in months and hadn’t attended school in for nearly two years. Due to his limited insurance benefits and family resources the treatment team has focused on areas of basic functioning. Since coming to Rogers he has been able to go out in public and sit in an on site classroom with peers. He has been working on basic functioning skills such as going to school, writing with a pen and paper, changing his clothes, and increasing positive social interaction.

In both of these cases, patients are being asked to accept less then effective treatment. Would this be acceptable to you if you or your child had a primary care diagnosis?Join us in working to bring parity to Wisconsin by coming over to Madison on Wednesday and talking to your legislators directly. If you can’t come, please call your legislators today.

What you can do today:

• Find out who your legislators are.
• Download some talking points.
• Learn more about Mental Health Parity Day.

Dr. Tracey Cornella-Carlson receives board certification

Town of Summit, Wisc. – Tracey Cornella-Carlson, a staff psychiatrist with Rogers Memorial Hospital’s Eating Disorder Services was recently named the attending psychiatrist for the Eating Disorder partial hospitalization program for preteens to young adults after receiving board certification as a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist.

“Obtaining this certification was a personal goal,” Cornella-Carlson said. “Board certification is the medical community’s way of letting the public and other health care providers know that this is a quality physician – one that the public should be comfortable seeking care from, and one that other professionals can consult with confidence.”

Board certification presents evidence that the doctor has exceptional proficiency in a certain area.

Cornella-Carlson said our country has unrealistic expectations about being thin.

“I think eating disorders are becoming such an issue in the U.S., particularly amongst our adolescents, and now even children, due to the fact that a thin body is perceived as a simple answer for acceptance and happiness,” Cornella-Carlson said.

The Eating Disorder partial hospitalization program is designed for preteens to young adults who are affected by anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. The unique partial hospitalization program utilizes proven, evidence-based treatment components including cognitive-behavioral and family-centered therapies.

Paul Mueller, Rogers Memorial Hospital’s chief operations officer said Cornella-Carlson’s achievement speaks volumes of her character.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Tracey as part of the eating disorder treatment team,” he said. “She brings an exceptional amount of professionalism to the field. The fact that she is now board certified goes to show that Rogers Memorial has a staff that is highly dedicated to their field and their patients.”

Cornella-Carlson received her medical degree from the Chicago Medical School in 1992. She also completed a three-year general psychiatry residency and a two-year fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry as Chief Fellow at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. She has done research on Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and specializes in eating disorder treatment.
Cornella-Carlson is licensed to practice psychiatry in the state of Wisconsin, and a current member of the Academy for Eating Disorders and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

“Rogers is unique for many reasons – it’s a true specialty psychiatric facility that has attracted an abundant supply of extremely competent medical staff,” Cornella-Carlson said. “Rogers tends to treat the whole person – including their emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.”

Rogers Memorial Hospital is a nonprofit behavioral healthcare provider for children, adolescents, adults and older adults. The hospital is nationally recognized for its residential treatment centers including the Eating Disorder Center, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Center, Child Center and the Child and Adolescent Center. Rogers Memorial also provides residential treatment services for chemical dependency and co-occurring OCD and other anxiety disorders. Inpatient and partial hospitalization services are also available. Rogers Memorial is licensed as a psychiatric hospital by the State of Wisconsin and accredited by the Joint Commission. It offers treatment programs at four Wisconsin locations: Oconomowoc, Milwaukee, Kenosha and Brown Deer.

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Mental Health Parity Action Day is less than two weeks away. Sign up Now! On Feb. 20, hundreds of concerned citizens will come to the state capitol to rally for fairness in health care coverage.

Mental Health Parity legislation would require that Wisconsin employers provide insurance coverage that treats mental illness on the same scale as physical illness. In the U.S., 42 other states already have such legislation.

On the issue of Parity, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in an editorial reaction to Gov. Doyle’s state of the state address, called for the adoption of a mental health parity bill. In an unsigned editorial, the Journal Sentinel wrote:

Enact mental health parity: The state must approve a mental health parity law, as other states have done, requiring insurers to cover mental health treatment to the same extent as physical illnesses.

On the western side of the state, the Kathleen Vinehout of the Tomah Journal wrote that the link between mental and physical health is strong.

The link between mind and body and health cost is amazing. A person with diabetes is twice as likely to be depressed. And a depressed diabetic costs four and a half times more to care for than a diabetic who is not depressed. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

This is the tip of the iceberg indeed. Please join us on Feb. 20 at the State Capitol in Madison. Rogers Memorial Hosptial will be represented by over 20 people, including board members, students and staff. Sign up to be part of the Lt. Governor’s Mental Health Parity Action Day and we’ll see you in Madison.