Psychiatric Health Facility
Welcome to the Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF)
The San Joaquin County Mental Health Services Psychiatric
Health Facility was inaugurated in 1982. As a 40-bed
inpatient program, the facility was designed to treat
individuals in need of intensive therapeutic psychiatric
services. The culturally diverse program employs four
inpatient psychiatrists, four social workers, psychiatric
technicians, mental health specialists, an out-reach worker,
registered nurses, an occupational therapist, a recreational
therapist and clerical staff to provide quality mental
health care in a patient-centered, supportive, culturally
sensitive milieu.
Following the spirit of the Mission Statement of San
Joaquin County Department of Health Care Services, The
Psychiatric Health Facility's objective is one of
community service with the focus on individualized
treatment, prevention, early intervention, and
rehabilitative services.
This inpatient facility is separated into three suites to
provide progressive care designed to meet different
treatment needs. The goal of the Psychiatric Health Facility
is to provide short-term quality treatment in order to
return patients to the community. Psychiatric interventions
are provided on a 24-hour basis to assist individuals in
controlling the disabling effects of mental illness or
related emotional problems.
The average length of stay is approximately 7 days. All
therapeutic efforts are concentrated on enabling the patient
to gain insight into their problems, developing
self-monitoring capabilities, learning appropriate
adaptation skills, and encouraging medication compliance
when appropriate. Treatment focus is on emphasizing the
patients' abilities to help themselves. This is
accomplished through assessment and intensive therapy as
provided by Psychiatrists, Clinical Social Workers, and
Marriage and Family Therapists in order to enable the
patients to meet their goals.
The patient services of the Psychiatric Health Facility
are provided within the framework of an education
orientation. Coordinated rehabilitative services offer
medication education to the patients to maximize the quality
of compliance and self-monitoring. Milieu therapy encourages
appropriate adjustment and modification of behavior in a
structured and safe environment. Discharged patients are
encouraged to attend follow-up Outpatient Services, Adult
Case Management Services, or Day Treatment Services. In
addition, the patients are frequently referred to a
post-hospital facility, Grant Street House, which is a
Crisis Residential Program. Bright House, another short-term
behavioral program, is also used, where supervised, group
home treatment continues after acute hospitalization.
In the challenging mental health care environment, the
Psychiatric Health Facility remains committed to the
objective of community services and the provision of quality
care in a patient-centered, supportive, culturally sensitive
environment.
