Fort Hamilton Hospital to close behavioral health unit

Credit: Nicholas S. Graham

Credit: Nicholas S. Graham

Fort Hamilton Hospital will close its 20-bed in-patient behavioral health unit and outpatient service on Feb. 28, according to Kettering Health Network.

“Due to declining inpatient volumes, competition from local for-profit facilities, greater outpatient services in the community, and inadequate reimbursement from governmental payers, the unit is unable to effectively sustain its operational costs,” said spokeswoman Elizabeth Long.

“We believe the low volume is due in part to the trend in health care to provide outpatient treatment to behavioral health patients.”

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Kettering Health Network is a not-for-profit network of nine hospitals, 12 emergency departments, and 120 outpatient facilities serving southwest Ohio.

Kettering Health will continue to make referrals and partner with area agencies in Butler County and throughout southwest Ohio so that behavioral health patients can receive care, she said. That includes Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center in Moraine, part of Kettering Health Network.

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Clinicians will continue to provide behavioral health evaluations of patients who come into Fort Hamilton Hospital’s emergency department, Long said. Previously, EMS units brought behavioral health patients to the hospital’s emergency department from area communities specifically because of Fort Hamilton’s inpatient unit. Once the unit closes, EMS will take patients to the closest emergency department, she said.

Greater Miami Services, owned by Community First Solutions, leases space from Fort Hamilton Hospital to offer mental health services, Long said.

“There are no expected changes to the operations of GMS as far as Fort Hamilton Hospital is aware,” she said.

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