Pavilion celebrates five years of mental health care

May 17--BLUEFIELD -- As the Behavioral Health Pavilion of the Virginias marked five successful years Wednesday, a former patient's passage shared a message of healing.

Though the author's name was withheld to protect his or her privacy, a brief memoir inside the anniversary program agenda traced the moment that the writer realized what it meant to be whole again.

"I looked around, and all I saw were smiles and happy faces -- but more than that, I saw peace. I saw hearts being put back together. If only for that moment, I was OK because I saw hope," the writer described. "In that moment, we truly lived, and nothing else mattered. We smiled as if we had smiled forever -- as if we had endless love of every kind. Our hearts were at peace. We were at peace."

The anniversary event offered Princeton Community Hospital and Diamond Health Corporation the opportunity to celebrate the thousands of lives touched since The Pavilion opened as a mental healthcare facility in spring 2010.

Since its inception, the Pavilion has tallied 8,588 admissions among its three inpatient units. The hospital began recording outpatient visits in 2011, and it touts 7,819 of those over the last four years.

During his keynote remarks, PCH's Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Lilley said PCH saw the substantial need for increased mental healthcare service in the early to mid-2000s, before the former St. Luke's Hospital closed. The closure offered a new opportunity for PCH and Diamond to meet the growing need for a broad continuum of care in mental health fields.

Currently, The Pavilion offers 64 inpatient beds among its three units: a 30-bed geriatric unit; a 24-unit general adult department and a 10-bed psychiatric intensive care unit.

Typically, Lilley said, The Pavilion's patients visit from as far away as Wise and Abingdon, Va., to the west and Morgantown and beyond in the north. But, referrals may start almost anywhere.

"Just about every county in the state has had patients at The Pavilion," he said.

Outpatient programming at The Pavilion includes three levels of care: a partial hospitalization program, a structured-outpatient program and a tier of traditional outpatient medical management and counseling. Outpatient participants generally hail from Southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia.

As is the case with most mental healthcare-related issues, community outreach and education are very important to The Pavilion. In order to work within the community, Lilley said Pavilion staffers and volunteers annually participate in local women's and seniors' expos, along with organizing an Out of the Darkness Walk designed to raise awareness about suicide prevention.

"These folks with Diamond participate [in community events], just like everybody else," he said.

In addition to Lilley's presentation, Wednesday's event included comments from The Pavilion Administrator Steve Cavender; greetings from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, delivered by Regional Representative Kimberly Gross; Pavilion Medical Director and Chairman of Psychiatry Dr. Jeffry Gee; Diamond Healthcare Corporation Chief Operating Officer Rick Shrum; an invocation by PCH Chaplain Rev. David Neal; and refreshments prepared by Pavilion's Nutrition staff.

In his closing remarks, Cavender specifically thanked Pavilion Director of Business Development Connie Cochran and PCH's Rick Hypes, who Cavender said seems to do a bit of everything.

-- Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

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