Page 31 - BusinessWest July 10, 2023

“They might say, ‘I think I need help. I’m suicidal.’ That’s what my intake-assessment team is here for, to assess them for clinical issues, suicidal ideations, whatever it may be.”
Sasenaraine also noted that the new facility will provide employment opportunities with the opportunity to positively impact the lives of patients and families in the community. Employees currently working in Baystate facilities whose services will be transferred to Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital will have the opportunity to apply for positions there, in addition to opportunities for new employees to be a part of the joint venture.
“We’ll employ a lot of people, even some departments that didn’t exist before,” he said, such as a 24/7 intake department that will provide 18 full-time equivalent jobs. “For many people, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of building a new organization from the ground up.”
Behavioral-health services from Baystate Wing Hospital and Baystate Noble Hospital, as well as pediatric behavioral- health services from Baystate Medical Center, will begin to transition to the Valley Springs site in August. Spaces in those facilities will then be converted to primary and specialty care or will be used to accommodate the increasing demand for inpatient medical services.
Baystate Health is working closely with the Department of Public Health (DPH) during this transition. The affected inpatient facilities are expected to be fully transitioned by the end of the year, with most completing the move in the fall, and partial hospitalization programs transitioning by January 2024.
As Baystate Health works with DPH to facilitate the transition, a series of formal notices will be made, public hearings will be held, and DPH will work with Baystate Health to assure patient-access needs are met. This process has already begun, about four months before the intended full transition for each affected unit, starting in late May for Baystate Wing, mid-June for Baystate Medical Center, and late June for Baystate Noble Hospital; it will continue in July for the partial-hospitalization program at Baystate Franklin
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Medical Center.
Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital will be affiliated
with the psychiatric services operated directly by Baystate Health, including a 28-bed Adult Psychiatric Treatment Unit at Baystate Medical Center, which serves as a primary site of training for medical students and psychiatric residents within UMass Chan Medical School – Baystate educational programs. This unit has a unique role in the care of patients with co-occurring and complex medical issues, requiring the resources of a general hospital.
Baystate’s Department of Psychiatry will also continue to operate its array of ambulatory behavioral-health services, psychiatric consultation services, emergency psychiatric services, and programs supporting mental-health treatment in the primary-care setting.
In addition, Baystate Health will continue to operate its 22-bed Mental Health Unit at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, which provides inpatient behavioral healthcare for patients in Greenfield and the surrounding communities. According to Ronald Bryant, president of Baystate Regional Hospitals, the decision to keep this unit open was made based on geography and Baystate Franklin’s history of integration
of behavioral-health services, such as the 24/7 presence of recovery coaches in the Emergency Department.
“Baystate Franklin has spent many years building strength in behavioral-health practices that really connects with a lot of the other types of care provided,” Bryant said. “We didn’t want to lose the continuity of that integration.”
Fulfilling a Mission
Before coming to Valley Springs, Sasenaraine served as vice president of Operations for the central region of Spire Orthopedic Partners, where he led new construction, patient-
“The new building allows us to make use of modern technology to elevate patient safety in a way retrofitting an existing unit could not.”
ROY SASENARAINE
Baystate
Continued on page 58
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