History of Terrell State Mental Hospital Essay

There are many governmental agencies within the healthcare system. One of most interesting and heart-wrenching agencies is a local governmental agency called Terrell State Mental Hospital. This agency is well known in the state of Texas for its carefree healthcare. They have a longstanding relationship with the families of its patients and are a major contributor to the city of Terrell’s financial windfall. They produce over ten million a year for the city of Terrell, which allows this city to take care of its mental inpatients and make sure they have the best treatment possible. History of Terrell State Mental Hospital According to Mike Hansen (2008), Terrell State Mental Hospital is a 582 room facility that is joint commission accredited and a Medicare certified psychiatric inpatient hospital that is operated under the direction of the Texas Department of State Health Services. This hospital is responsible for many types of illnesses and is an independent, not for profit organization, which has many programs to offer its patients. These programs include an adult acute program, a children’s and adolescence program, a forensics program, geriatric service, an intensive behavioral program and an intermediate care program, all of which has their patients best interest at heart. This hospital was opened in July 1885 and has grown to double its original size and is still running strong to this day. This is a local governmental agency which can compare with national agencies such as The Centers of Disease Control or a state governmental agency such as Health and Human Services in many ways, but the most common factor between these agencies is their ability to help the ill to get over disease or keep from getting a physical or mental illness. This agency houses over 775 patients and employees over 175 people. It is a functioning psychiatric hospital, which cares for its mentally ill patients over four county lines. They onitor their facilities and patients for any new mental illnesses which may develop. This agency also serves the rich, the poor, all races and all minorities in the state of Texas. The Community Relations Department at Terrell State Hospital has three areas of responsibility, which includes volunteer services, public information and fundraising. They provide services and items that the state cannot supply by law or by limitation of funds. This agency has done a tremendous job with curing its patients or at least advancing them to live in society. Admission Process When a person first arrives at the hospital they will be greeted at the admissions office by the staff, which are well trained to address language and cultural needs as well as special needs such as those of the visually impaired or hearing impaired. Then a meeting with the chief psychiatrist will take place to cover the needs and reasoning for the patient being admitted then paperwork will be completed covering reason for hospitalization. Then the patient will be shown around the facility and introduced to the staff that will be caring for the patient. Afterwards, an evaluation will be done by the doctor to determine what needs are to be met. The only motto of this staff is the patient always comes first. Structure and Funding Terrell State Mental Hospital is designed in a matrix structure where the professionals focus on project teams and report to a general manager or a vice president. Because these professionals can work on several projects it is very important to have strong central oversight from the senior managers to ensure people do not stray from the projects they work on. According to Ninomiya (2009), with this style of management system workers report to more than one supervisor at a time. The idea is to share knowledge and personnel to maximize effectiveness. This hospital receives their funding from both voluntary contributions and from the Department of Human Services or the state of Texas. They arrange a budget describing the funds needed and the state of Texas takes care of the rest. Contributions also come from families of the inpatients. The voluntary contributions in this city are amazing. They really know how to make this city shine. It’s like a true Texan to show their winning attitudes by giving back to the economy and being generous with their money. Programs Available This hospital is operated under the direction of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. They offer their services to people within a twenty-two county, 14,622 square mile area including Bowie, Dallas, and Kaufman Counties. According to the Chamber of Commerce (2009), their services are offered to children 6 to 12 years of age, adolescence ages 12 to 18 and adults. Programs include acute care, an intensive behavioral program, medical services, forensic care for inmates of state correctional institutions intermediate care, a cottage program for adult life skills and a research center. Local Agencies vs. National and State Agencies The three of these agencies have different aspects of treatment for disease. The national and state agencies usually focus on locating and making the public aware of possible outbreaks such as a rising number of cases of encephalitis. They announce to the public where and when to stay tuned for information on what is the next step for information on what is the next step or what they need to do to obtain an immunization or where they need to go to get their injection if one is available. The local agency such as with Terrell State Mental Hospital usually focuses on treatment of illness such as with mental illness. It is usually a prolonged and drawn out type of treatment. Doctors usually have to try a patient on several medications before they arrive at the treatment that works for a patients illness. Local agencies usually work with the family members of these patients to help determine what might work with their family member’s illness. According to Colonel Jim Harris (2009), this hospital continues to be governed by a local board of managers. When the State Board of Control assumed the duties for governing state institutions, the operation of Terrell State Mental Hospital came under the control and management of the Board of Texas State Hospital and special schools. The 59th Legislature in 1965, under House Bill No. , created the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act for control and management of Terrell State Hospital. The Board of Texas State Hospital and special schools was abolished at that time. Over the years there have been major ameliorations some planned and some not. These changes have cost the state of Texas millions of dollars. The improvements have changed this pioneer establishment into a modern psychiatric facility that serves twenty-one counties in the northern part of the state. These ameliorations have made this hospital one that the patients and their family members can be proud of. Conclusion Local, National and State governmental agencies in the healthcare field all overlap in many different ways. For one, they all share disease prevention. Each agency shares disease prevention in a different way. A state organization such as Health and Human Services helps to prevent disease by helping to provide the poor with immunizations so they are protected in case of an outbreak of a dangerous disease. A national governmental agency such as Centers for Disease Control helps to keep the public aware when they are suspicious that a disease has reached epic proportions and is beginning to make them think an outbreak has occurred or is a threat to the public. They give the pubic directions on where they should go or how they should handle a dangerous situation in case one was to occur. The last agency which is the local governmental agency such as Terrell State Mental Hospital helps the public with a completely different completely different angle to the disease and its prevention. They help the public with mental disorders and their treatments. This hospital is very generous and works hard to help patients with their disorders. Psychiatric issues can be a very hard time for families, but this hospital works hard and uses voluntary contributions sparingly, so that the state of Texas can take the remainder of their contributions and work hard to make the patients well or to get them on the right treatment, so that they can once again function in society. Terrell State functions as a matrix structure which basically means they are a project oriented type of company. They also function by reporting to more than one manager. They highly believe projects are the best way to make the greatest progress. This style of structure is also well known for keeping several types of projects going at all times. In this case they may have several patients that they work with at a time and these individuals may have many types of problems such as a case of bipolar, and another may be schizophrenic, etc. These patients may have several doctors that they report to. Every doctor truly cares for their patients and they like to make sure that they take each patients interest to heart.