Sheppard Pratt Children's Inpatient Unit
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Anonymous
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I wanted to provide some information about the children's (ages 4-12) inpatient program at SP in Towson.
First let me say that everyone I have met there has been very kind, helpful, and caring. There are 16 beds on the unit. Each child has their own room with bathroom. The unit is self is a cheerful place. Kids artwork hangs in the hallways. There are lots of colorful reminders about skills to use in the moment. There is a quiet room and they will use restraint if necessary. You will be notified if that occurs. The team of people that work with your child include: psychiatrists, social workers, art therapists, OT, teachers, nurses, and mental health workers. The unit uses a behavior management/rewards points system. The protocol is a combination of medication and DBT. The daily schedule includes DBT Skills, morning movement, calming transition activity, art therapy, OT, Relaxation time, structured activity, and gym. DBT skills groups occurs 2x/day. There is no group therapy scheduled on the unit. There is a family therapy session. If you go during morning visiting hours, the nurses will let the drs know you are on the unit and they will try and stop by. There are morning and evening visiting hours and families cannot bring children under 12 onto the unit for visits. As the child progresses, there is an off unit visit and then an off campus visit. Off unit could be lunch in the cafeteria and a walk around the campus. Off campus is something like going into Towson for lunch or dinner. There are scheduled phone call times as well. Parking on campus is free. Children can come to the unit as a referral from their dr, the ER, the day hospital, school referral, or Crisis Walk in Clinc. Avg length of stay is 10-14 days. Discharge Protocol: You need to have a plan for follow up care. The social worker will help you create a plan. The plan can include a stay in the day hospital or planned sessions with your local therapist and/or psychiatrist. The day hospital can be used as a step down from the the intensity of the inpatient care before stepping down even further to local care. Day hospital hours are 8-3:30 and is located in Towson as well. They have space for 10 children. There is a nice continuity of care and collaboration between the inpatient unit and the day hospital. Hope this helps and I'll try to answer any additional questions. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for posting. Is the adolescent unit located in the same building:program or do you have any knowledge on it? |
Anonymous
There is an adolescent male unit and an adolescent female unit on the same floor as the children's unit. There is also another inpatient adolescent unit in Ellicott City. The adolescent day program is in Towson. |
Anonymous
| Is there a list anywhere online of the local inpatient options for kids/teens, does anyone know? |
Anonymous
I have not seen a consolidated list. Perhaps we can create one. Children (under 12) Brook Lane in Hagerstown Dominion in Falls Church Sheppard Pratt in Towson UMD Medical Center in Baltimore John Hopkins in Baltimore Psychiatric Institute of Washington DC (10-17) Children's Hospital Washington DC |
Anonymous
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There is also
North Spring Behavioral Health inpatient in Leesburg VA (kids & adolescents) but they murdered a child on the residential unit a few years ago, which does give one pause at using their services. |
Anonymous
| Snowden in Fredericksburg-has horrible reviews online |
Anonymous
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The options in Virginia are even worse than Maryland.
Shady Grove Adventist in Rockville-children ages 8 and up. |
Anonymous
Adventist has closed their children’s unit. Not sure if the adolescent is still open. |
Anonymous
They need to edit their website then, jeez. What if someone went there in an emergency. |
Anonymous
| As of when? It was open when I was there inpatient adult recently |
Anonymous
Seriously. Brutal. Where are Virginia families supposed to go? I have only heard horror stories about Dominion so your other option is....the place that killed a kid? |
Anonymous
From the other thread, I get the idea that you go wherever there is a bed. It doesn't have to be in your state. So Va could go to Md. Or Nova could go to Richmond or Va Beach. It's certainly not convenient and it makes things very difficult if there are other children at home. |
Anonymous
It was located in the hospital. So if you went there in an emergency, you would be admitted to the ER and they would do a bed search for you. |
Anonymous
how can a hospital in another state coordinate outpatient care in Virginia or Maryland when the child is discharged? That is very disturbing. |