New mental health services widen the spectrum of care available at M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital
Two new mental health programs opening next door to M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital are designed to provide adults with significant support, while allowing them to live at home and in some cases continue participating in work, school, and family life.
A new partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP) add to the already robust set of mental health treatment options for adults on or near the Southdale Hospital campus. The hospital is the site of Minnesota’s first EmPATH service, an innovative model where people experiencing a mental health crisis can get emergency care in a calming setting. Southdale is also equipped with an onsite substance use disorder treatment program, as well as outpatient counseling and other care.
“With the opening of partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs, Southdale has truly become a hub for outpatient mental health services,” said Bhargavi Ghate, MSW, an M Health Fairview clinical social worker and system director of mental health and addiction clinical services.
“After receiving crisis care at our EmPATH, patients can be admitted directly into our PHP or IOP programs,” Ghate added. “This helps close the gap between emergency and follow-up care, which can be a very vulnerable time for people who need mental health support.”
What is a partial hospitalization program (PHP)?
People enrolled in our partial hospitalization program receive five hours of treatment and support daily, five days a week. The program is often the next step down from full hospitalization.
It involves in-depth group therapy, regular visits with a psychiatry provider for medication management, and multidisciplinary care to stabilize mental health symptoms. The PHP team includes a psychotherapist, occupational therapist, and a skilled nurse.
The program follows a trauma-informed care model and groups focus on talk therapy, education, and skill development. Typically, patients remain in our partial hospitalization program for three weeks, though length of stay can vary depending on patient needs.
What is an intensive outpatient program (IOP)?
Despite its name, the intensive outpatient program care is less intense and a shorter daily duration than partial hospitalization. It typically involves three hours of daily care, four days a week, over a span of eight to nine weeks. Our program near the M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital campus takes place in the late afternoon and evening, so that people can still work or meet other daily obligations.
Like PHP, our IOP program offers group therapy and medication management. Here, too, our team uses trauma-informed care principles, and groups focus on talk therapy, education, and skill development. For many, IOP offers more substantial care than they could get through once-weekly therapy sessions or outpatient mental health visits.
The big picture
Both programs work on skill-building to help people cope with the stresses of life. And both are alternatives to inpatient hospitalization, which can be helpful for some people but isn’t needed in all cases. After participation in one or both programs, mental health patients typically step down to outpatient care for ongoing support once or twice a week.
M Health Fairview currently offers similar programs for adults and children at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center – West Bank in Minneapolis. Similar services for children and teens are also available at M Health Fairview St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood.
"Establishing these programs near Southdale Hospital significantly enhances the accessibility and convenience of mental health care for residents in the southern and western suburbs of the Twin Cities,” said Chris Beamish, M Health Fairview’s vice president for mental health and addiction services.
"This location will provide early evening programming, an important step toward increasing accessibility to care by offering services outside of traditional working hours,” said Rich Levine, MD, an M Health Fairview psychiatrist and medical director of outpatient services.
