The integration of UW Medical Center (UWMC) and Northwest Hospital & Medical Center (NWH) gives us an exciting opportunity to update the existing NWH mental health facilities while simultaneously building new mental health programs that address current system-wide gaps in care. Richard Veith, MD, and Ryan Kimmel, MD, in collaboration with Cindy Hecker, RN, the Executive Director for UW Medical Center and Northwest Hospital, are leading the planning effort to expand the existing 27-bed geropsychiatry inpatient program by adding 12 new adult inpatient beds. The planning is well underway and the architectural designs we have seen so far are fantastic. The new space is set to launch no later than January, 2020.

We would also like to develop additional clinical programs on the NWH campus including an intensive outpatient / partial hospital program, a state-of-the art neuromodulation program, and a perinatal mental health program in partnership with a growing Childbirth Center at NWH. We are working actively with our UW Medicine Advancement team to solicit philanthropic and other support for such new programs.