Message from the Medical Director

The majority of clients who receive care at MPC suffer from lifelong illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These illnesses are characterized over time by periods of remission and relapse. With each relapse, the client is likely to experience a decline in their ability to function and to have a satisfying quality of life. Moreover, the capacity of persons with psychotic illness to respond to treatment may be undermined by each successive period of acute illness. Therefore, we believe that the psychiatric services we provide to our clients should be focused on the prevention of future relapses.

While treatment of the current episode of acute illness is important, our sights should be set on doing all that we can during the current period of acute illness to prevent or delay the next one. The acute hospitalization provides a unique window of opportunity for the client to obtain education, experience the helpfulness of a variety of treatment modalities, recognize the parts of their illness that are within their control and responsibility, and become linked with community resources. Treatments aimed at enabling the client to successfully engage in outpatient services, as well as to resolve the current illness are an integral part of the hospital's mission. Through this approach the client is more likely to retain their capacity to respond to present and future treatments and experience an optimal quality of life.

This philosophy of acute inpatient care is actualized by all disciplines and through a variety of measures:

1. striving for the most precise diagnosis, so that the most effective treatments can be selected;
2. selection and implementation of the most effective treatments to quickly bring the present episode to an end and to prevent or delay future episodes;
3. selecting pharmacological treatments with minimal side-effects and maximal ease of administration, so that compliance is maximized;
4. intense education of the client and family so that understanding of the illness and compliance with treatment is maximized;
5. intense discharge planning so that the client and staff can select an outpatient environment that encourages continuity of care;
6. cooperation with providers of outpatient care to ensure that the client being discharged follows up with all plans for outpatient care.