Hospitals in joint plan for alcohol treatment

7/31/2009

Toledo Hospital and Arrowhead Behavioral Health have formed a joint venture so that their patients needing help with alcohol and substance abuse will be treated at the Maumee behavioral health hospital, the health-care providers announced yesterday.

As the result of the consolidation of chemical dependency services, Toledo Hospital will close its 20-employee Alcohol & Drug Treatment Center on

Sept. 1. ProMedica is discussing job options with the 20 mostly nurses and counselors whose jobs will be eliminated at Toledo Hospital, including the possibility of working elsewhere within ProMedica or at Arrowhead Behavioral Health as openings arise, said Kevin Webb, Toledo Hospital president.

Toledo Hospital on average had five inpatients a day and treated about 150 outpatients a month at the Alcohol & Drug Treatment Center, which is relatively small for such services, Mr. Webb said. Combining forces with Arrowhead Behavioral Health, where patient numbers were not much higher, will allow both providers to lower costs without jeopardizing care, he said.

"This is a service that is really needed in the community," Mr. Webb said. "We didn't want to go out of the business, but we wanted to operate more efficiently."

Toledo Hospital, meanwhile, will continue to offer inpatient psychiatric care, Mr. Webb said. Inpatient psychiatric care is part of the joint venture, but both hospitals will have beds for patients, he said.

Arrowhead Behavioral Health, which is owned by Psychiatric Solutions Inc. in Franklin, Tenn., has a 42-bed behavioral health hospital at 1725 Timberline Road, Maumee. About half of those beds will be used for patients with drug and alcohol dependency under the joint venture, Mr. Webb said.

ProMedica also offers inpatient psychiatric services at other hospitals, including Flower Hospital in Sylvania.