Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center Receives Grant for Critical Behavioral Health Program

Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center has been awarded a grant from the Illinois Division of Mental Health to support the hospital’s Medically Integrated Crisis Community Support (MICCS) team, which applies an interdisciplinary care approach for patients with significant behavioral, emotional and medical disorders who tend to rely on hospitals for their basic psychiatric, medical, shelter and other basic needs.

The MICCS team delivers crisis stabilization services, mirroring the intensity of interventions that patients receive in the emergency department, but delivers those services in the patient’s chosen natural community setting. The team has been able to accomplish extraordinary outcomes, in part because the team utilizes telehealth technology so allows patients to communicate with the psychiatrist and nurse remotely when needed.

The grant funds will further support and strengthen MICCS initiatives, including a clinic where patients can get injections of long-acting psychiatric medications, telepsychiatry services, and a partnership with Cook County Court Services for assisted outpatient treatment and peer support recovery, among others.

The MICCS team also works in close partnership with key community organizations, including the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, to increase the cost effectiveness of the initiative and get services to those who need it most.

“Patients with severe mental health, addiction and medical needs may have difficulties navigating the healthcare system, community resources and bureaucracies to obtain insurance, housing, transportation or basic food supplies,” says Joanne May, PhD, director of outpatient behavioral health services. “As a result, their physical and behavioral health status may deteriorate, requiring multiple hospital admissions. This grant support allows our team to continue to offer community-based crisis service to the most vulnerable and acutely ill mentally ill in our community.”

The team is composed of a unique cohort of interdisciplinary team members which includes a psychiatrist, crisis workers, a nurse, a chaplain and recovery support specialists. By creating individualized care plans, the MICCS team is able to move patients toward their personal goals while stabilizing their condition in their natural communities.

“The MICCS initiative has had a significant impact on curbing the epidemic of high utilization of the emergency rooms and frequent hospitalizations, by providing alternatives in the community in a truly novel way,” adds Shastri Swaminathan, MD, chairman of the department of psychiatry.