Lincoln Medical Center announced it plans to open a new state-of-the-art psychiatric inpatient unit at its main hospital site on 149th St. in Melrose.
Lincoln officials say the new unit will reduce the time patients are required to wait before they can be admitted and will lead to shorter stays in the hospital.
The new 30-bed space will nearly double Lincoln’s psychiatric patient capacity, they said. They added that the new beds would help the hospital cut down on the number of psychiatric patients it is now forced to transfer out.
“Over the past several years, Lincoln Medical Center has witnessed a sustained increase in the number of individuals seeking care in the Psychiatric Emergency Room, many of whom require admission,” said Milton Nuñez, Lincoln’s executive director, adding that the number of psychiatric beds across the city has decreased.
The hospital’s head of psychiatry, Dr. Miklos Losonczy, said the new beds would “help reduce waiting times in the Psychiatric Emergency Department and enable patients who need intensive treatment to receive faster care in a new therapeutic environment.”
Along with a common dining room and staff-supervised kitchenette, the new unit offers patients will furnished rooms. In addition, there will be a central nursing station, video monitoring and a “wireless panic alarm that alerts staff and hospital police whenever a patient has an episode that may jeopardize safety,” according to a press release from the hospital.
Lincoln’s Behavioral Science service reported 771 inpatient stays and over 31,000 outpatient stays last year. The department includes a recovery center for patients with chemical addictions, a unit for mentally ill substance abusers and mental health therapeutic services for children and adults.
The new unit was funded with a $5.3 million Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability grant from the state.
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