St joseph elgin behavioral health

Amita Health plans to move the inpatient acute mental illness program out of Amita Health Saint Joseph Hospital in Elgin later this year, a move that surprised elected officials and mental health advocates in the area.

Sarah Ponitz, the executive director of PADS of Elgin, said she was “shocked” to hear the news for the first time Thursday since there was no hint such an announcement was coming.

"It’s important for us to have quick access to those services,” she said.

Amita Health posted a legal notice earlier in the week announcing its plans to cease operations of its inpatient acute mental illness programs at Saint Joseph and Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, pending approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Amita Health operates 19 hospitals in the state of Illinois.

Officials from Amita Health only provided a short statement Thursday regarding the behavioral health units. The inpatient psychiatric unit at Saint Joseph that provided services to adults and adolescents will move to Amita Health Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, while the geriatric psychiatric unit at Elk Grove Village will move to Amita Health Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates.

The inpatient acute mental illness unit at Saint Joseph has 30 beds available, according to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Board.

“These changes better allocate scarce clinicians at a single, stronger program within each region,” Clay Ciha, senior vice president and CEO of Behavioral Health in Hoffman Estates, said in the statement.

In a separate statement Friday, Amita Health officials said they would soon host meetings to detail more of their plans. “We understand and are appreciative of the concerns shared by the community in response," the statement read. "Amita Health will continue to engage with our stakeholders in the community to discuss the changing needs and demands of health care to deliver the best behavioral health services to those in need.”

According to the legal notice, the changes at Elgin and Elk Grove Village are expected to occur before Dec. 31. The hospital intends to file the required application with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board by Sept. 10.

PADS of Elgin will at times send some of the homeless it serves over to Saint Joseph Hospital if they are dealing with a mental health crisis. Its location in Elgin makes it convenient to all sides involved, Ponitz said.

Moving the services to another hospital miles away would make it harder for the people PADS of Elgin serves to get the help they need, she said. About 20 percent of the people PADS serves require some form of mental health service help, Ponitz said.

"To see that local decline in mental health services would be unfortunate,” Ponitz said.

State Sen. Cristina Castro said she was “extremely disappointed” upon hearing the news and called it “shameful” that Amita Health is moving forward with little to no community input. The move could impact the well being of the area’s homeless population and its minority population seeking mental health services, she said in a statement.

“Amita has left the community with no local access to much needed services," said Castro, D-Elgin. “A few years ago, when former Gov. Bruce Rauner lowered the number of beds at the Elgin Mental Health Center, this put the community under a huge strain. Now, Amita is closing the acute mental health ward. This is detrimental to the community, especially during a time where we should be expanding access to mental health services.”

Daphne Sandouka, the new executive director of the Ecker Center for Mental Health, said she “strongly opposed” the closing of the inpatient unit. Local agencies, police departments, mental health providers and more depend on the inpatient psychiatric beds available at Saint Joseph that are already in short supply in the area, she said.

“Closing down the unit will interrupt the continuity of client care for those who depend on medication and other psychiatric services,” she said in a statement. "Please don’t take away a life support to those who need it most.”