By Andrea Pettes
 
July 16, 2009
 
MEDFORD, Ore. - Mental healthcare is on the brink of changing in Southern Oregon, thanks to a new program
made possible by a grant from the Regency Foundation.
 
The Navigating Troubled Waters Program will provide support staff at Rogue Valley Medical Center, Community Health and La Clinica. Health leaders say the grant won't cover the entire cost of the program, but it will help it get off the ground. The program, still in its development stages. calls for three nurse navigators that will help patients going through medical care.
 
More than 20 percent of patients admitted to a hospital for psychiatric confinement are re-admitted within two weeks of discharge. Program coordinators believe having nurse navigators will help change those numbers.
 
"To have someone who knows how to get the care and support patient care in need. That's the relief we'll see relatively quick," said La Clinica CEO Brenda Johnson.
 
Jackson County currently has the third highest rate per capita for psychiatric hospitalization in Oregon.