Expediting Care to Meet Our Client's Immediate Needs

Restoring safety, dignity and long term stability

Darren* is a 51-year-old and living with schizoaffective disorder, “a serious mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, along with symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

Darren arrived at the Hamilton County Behavioral Health Urgent Care (BHUC) by an Uber driver – not knowing how he got there. He was disoriented and wearing hospital slippers on his feet, although it was bitterly cold outside. Apparently, Darren had recently cycled through multiple emergency departments, was unhoused and unable to recognize or respond appropriately to his escalating medical and psychiatric needs.

The BHUC nurse did a comprehensive behavioral and medical assessment, and found Darren had frostbite which put him at risk of losing his fingers. He was completely unaware of the severity of the situation. The nurse immediately provided wound care and made Darren a follow-up appointment to ensure that his hands were healing properly. She also assisted him in obtaining refills of his psychiatric medications to help stabilize his symptoms

That same day she connected Darren to the GCBHS Intensive Stabilization Services team to coordinate emergency hotel placement (so he had a safe place to stay), set up his follow-up medical care, and supported his transition into a residential mental health program. With continued stabilization and coordinated support, Darren was ultimately able to secure housing and reconnect with mental health services in the county where he preferred to live, something he had been unable to navigate independently due to his instability and homelessness

Without the intervention of the Behavioral Health Urgent Care, the outcome of this story could have been much darker. Instead, the BHUC served as a critical intervention point, preventing a serious medical outcome while restoring safety, dignity, and long-term stability.

*Name changed to protect privacy.