New addition part of continued integration of Milwaukee’s mental health care system

Milwaukee – A veritable round-table of the Milwaukee’s health-care community welcomed the new face of Rogers Memorial Hospital – Milwaukee at a grand-opening ceremony held on Tuesday, June 24 in West Allis.

“This building project is a tangible symbol of the journey  of how Rogers Memorial Hospital has grown to become a premier provider of behavioral health services in southeastern Wisconsin,” said William Petasnick, President & CEO, Froedtert Hospital and the Froedtert & Community Health System, who  served as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

“Today is a celebration of what Rogers Memorial Hospital has accomplished so far. It’s also an acknowledgment that there is still much work to be done,” said Paul Mueller, Chief Operating Officer of Rogers Memorial.

The addition’s completion is part of Rogers Memorial’s continued commitment to provided an integrated healthcare solution for Milwaukee and Wisconsin residents.

Those in attendance at the grand opening were given a small keychain fashioned in the shape of a jig-saw puzzle.  “You each have a puzzle key chain to remind you that there are no easy answers to solving the healthcare delivery system.  We each are a key piece of the solution,” said Muller.

Speakers at the event included Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, Petasnick, Dan Devine, Mayor of the City of West Allis, Martha S. Rasmus, President and CEO of Mental Health America of Wisconsin, and several Rogers Memorial officials.

The new addition to Rogers Memorial Hospital in Milwaukee expands the hospital by roughly 26,000 square feet and creates new treatment spaces for the Rogers Memorial’s day treatment, and  partial treatment programs.

The facility also adds a new entryway and front reception to the hospital, creates private admissions suites, and accounts for the possibility of  future expansions. Rogers Memorial Hospital  – Milwaukee is located at 11101 W. Lincoln Avenue in West Allis.

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, The 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. To learn more, please call (800) 767-4411 or visit us online at www.rogershospital.org.

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Earlier this month, Rogers Memorial Hospital launched rogerscamp.org, a special section of our Web site for our popular ADHD Challenge Camp.

Challenge Camp is an opportunity for children ages 9 to 13 dealing with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety or related disorders to improve their self-esteem, social skills and sense of personal responsibility.

Camp staff guides children through fun activities that help them develop personal skills needed to deal with their behavioral health challenges.

This year’s camp is limited to two sessions of about 40 participants. Head over to the Challenge Camp Web site to find out more and to download registration and information documents.

Rogers Memorial Hospital was recently featured in a well-written review by Woodbury Reports. For those of you who don’t know, Woodbury Reports publishes Struggling Teens, a leading online resource for parents and professionals. Woodbury sends a reporter to visit each program it reviews. I had the privilege of giving the author of this particular article a tour of our campus.

I learned that most of the day is spent in therapeutic activities – both individual and group work. Brad Riemann, PhD, nationally recognized for his work with patients with anxiety issues, especially OCD, has made cognitive behavioral therapy an important part of the treatment modalities at Rogers. He has modified the work so these young patients can reap its benefits.

Read the whole article at strugglingteens.com.

Treatment at The Child Center at Rogers Memorial Hospital focuses on developing awareness, responsibility and change. Our collaborative treatment team helps children identify their personal challenges over an open 45 to 60 day treatment stay. We are so pleased that the reporter from Woodbury reports saw and understood these key elements of our program.

You can find out more about The Child Center by viewing the center’s Web page or by watching this short video.

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.

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.

Rogers Memorial Hospital will be joining Lt. Governor Lawton, advocates from all over Wisconsin, and hundreds of people from every walk of life on February 20, 2008 in Madison for Mental Health Parity Action Day. Sign up Now!

Wisconsin is one of only eight states lacking legislation that ensures insurance companies cover mental health the same way they cover physical health.

The good news is that such a bill is making its way through the legislature right now. Wisconsin needs mental health parity, and mental health parity needs your support!

On Feb, 20, the Capitol will spill over with those of us who are determined to put the health and well-being of our citizens and our economy at the top of the agenda. You and your family deserve the same access to the same health benefits guaranteed in 42 other states.

Find out more and sign up now. Visit the Lt. Governor’s Web site at www.ltgov.wisconsin.gov and click on the purple “Mental Health” button.

And we’ll see you on Feb. 20th!

Congratulations to the Wisconsin State Journal for emphasizing Wisconsin’s need for a strong parity bill by publishing a moving column written by the director of public policy for Mental Health America of Wisconsin Shel Gross. The article calls for mental health parity legislation that would ban insurance practices that set arbitrary and unfair caps on mental-health treatment. Gross vividly explains:

Imagine being told that your health plan will pay for only 10 treatment sessions for cancer or that it sets a lifetime limit of 75 outpatient visits for diabetes ‘ care, regardless of a doctor ’s strong advice. Those are the kind of limits facing people with chronic, life-threatening illnesses like depression.

[Link to Original Article as appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal]

Gloss wrote that the state needs a strong federal parity law. “It ’s not just a matter of fairness, it ’s a matter of life and death.”

It is unfortunate that Wisconsin is only one of 13 states that does not have a parity bill. The time is now.