Behavioral Health Unit and Partial Hospitalization to Close Temporarily at Passavant

The administration at Jacksonville’s lone hospital has made the difficult decision to close the recently opened behavioral health unit.
Passavant Area Hospital CEO Harry Schmidt says this affects only the inpatient behavioral unit, and he plans on this being a temporary closure. This plan also temporarily closes the partial hospitalization program.
Schmidt says the lack of available doctors has given the hospital no other choice at this point.
Schmidt says after today, no new patients will be accepted into the inpatient behavioral health unit and into the partial hospitalization program. By February 28th, all patients in both areas will have been discharged as care allows, or transferred to another facility.
Schmidt says the psychiatric shortage has been felt across the country, and acutely in Illinois. There is an acute shortage in 80 of the Illinois counties, and a 70-percent acute shortage across the country.
He says the next effort to re-open the unit could come next fall, after a recruiting campaign
Schmidt says a total of 28 employees work on the inpatient behavioral health unit and in the partial hospitalization program. He says Passavant will work with these employees to offer them transition packages, and to identify other opportunities to continue employment in similar roles at Passavant or within Memorial Health System.