Northwest Medical Ends Psychiatric Inpatient Care

Northwest Medical Center of Washington County on March 25 announced a plan to end inpatient psychiatric services, effective April 22. About 30 employees currently staff the 20-bed unit, which is known as “Highland Hall.”

Patients situated in Highland Hall on April 22 will complete their treatment, according to a press release from Northwest Health System, but no new patients will be admitted.

The release cited the following reasons for closing the department:

• An increased severity in psychiatric-patient illness has resulted in violent situations involving Northwest Medical Center staff.

• An increased population of seriously ill patients is seeking care in Northwest Arkansas.

• 75 percent of the psychiatric inpatients at the hospital are uninsured or use Arkansas Medicaid.

“We deliberately decided to delay our decision as long as possible,” said Northwest Health CEO Bill Bradley.

“We hoped that the state would be able to muster resources to address the current system’s shortcomings. When it did not appear as though we would get any relief from being the only hospital in Northwest Arkansas to bear the financial responsibility for this service, and we started having staff injuries, we simply felt we could not continue to wait.”

Northwest Medical Center stated in the release that administrators would answer no further inquiry about the subject.