Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health re-opens Residential Treatment Center

According to staff, the outpatient wing was closed shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has remained closed since. The center still provided outpatient services, through Zoom and later in-person, but Director Fred Utley said it wasn’t the same.

Utley said the wing was set to open sooner, but construction delays pushed the re-opening into March. The new space includes patient rooms with three beds and storage areas for three patients. Utley says the three-to-a-room practice is done for safety in the event of a medical or other emergency.

“Three to a room. One of the benefits of doing three to a room is safety. You have a better chance of keeping two people to a room if you put three. You know people are always coming and going,” he said. “It’s easier to have a roommate to alert (if something’s wrong) than to it would be to maybe walk down the hallway.”

Staff members check patients every hour.

“Our staff does do hourly accountability. We need to lay eyes and make sure we see that person, that they’re doing okay and not struggling or anything like that,” said Utley.

The patient rooms come in pairs, each paired to a well-equipped bathroom, complete with a large shower. The wing also includes offices, meeting rooms, and a patient laundry.

“This will be where we do group counselling and group education. We have various staff that are trained to do that,” said Utley, gesturing to a meeting room. “We’ve got various offices along the way, and different staff throughout. We do have a laundry center, and they do have access to the laundry.”

Utley says the facility will help those from all walks of life, and many choose to seek help of their own accord.

“I’ve been doing this for 22 years. We do get people on probation, but we also have people with family problems, employment problems. They just went through a bad time, noticing their drinking is increasing, so they’ll come by and check in also,” said Utley.

The wing also features a dining hall with a full kitchen. Meal services are served daily, with fruit and snacks available throughout the day. Outside the kitchen is an outdoor area, where patients can get outside, take a smoke break, or play horseshoes.

Utley said the focus of the new wing was to aid in stabilization and rehabilitation of patients.

“Our focus, we have outpatient offices in Rolla, Steelville, Houston, and here in Salem, so our main focus is going to be pulling people from those outpatient services, and bringing them here for stabilization, and then return them to our outpatient side,” said Utley. “The important thing is meeting that person where they’re at.”