Petition to save Easton’s psychiatry unit

EASTON, Md. – Access to medical care is already pretty limited on the Eastern Shore and that’s why some locals are fighting to make sure resources, for those who suffer from mental illness, aren’t limited even more.

Right now, there are only two publicly accessible inpatient psychiatric units on the Eastern Shore: one in Salisbury and one in Cambridge with a total of about 20 beds. The Cambridge unit was set to move to Easton, which is about 23 minutes away. But now there’s a new proposal that could move that unit to Chestertown, which is more than an hour away from Cambridge. Experts and advocates say if that proposal gets approved, it could be detrimental.

“I think it would be an irreparable harm to our community,” says Dr. Justin Wade, a psychiatrist with the UM Shore Medical Group.

Mental health experts and advocates are fighting back. “If you or your family member were having a major mental health problem, would you want to access care 20 minutes away or an hour and a half away from where you live,” says Dr. Wade.

This comes amid growing concern that one of the two inpatient psychiatric units on the Eastern Shore could move.

“Moving the one from Cambridge all the way to Chestertown will remove that as being accessible to the greater system that we have,” says Dr. Wade.

The previous proposal was for the Cambridge unit to move to Easton, a move that was supported.

“The access to these meager mental health services is very important to keep close to large population centers,” says Carole Spurrier, an advocate with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

But soon the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) will decide if Chestertown is a better fit based on three requirements: improved efficiency, consistency with the state health plan and if it’s in the best interest of the public.

“I don’t think we would be considering this if you were talking about moving orthopedics or if we were talking about moving cardiology or neurology or any other very needed medical specialty,” says Dr. Wade.

Mental health advocate Carole Spurrier says distance is one of the biggest factors in people getting help, “If someone is having an acute psychiatric crisis they may not be firmly attached to reality and therefore having family and friends there that they know and trust nearby is really important.”

Psychiatrist Dr. Justin Wade says another factor is time, “Time is important. Time is always important for providing medical care be it psychiatric care or cardiac care. There’s not a difference.”

He tells 47 ABC he will do whatever it takes to make sure these services aren’t moved because it could have dire consequences. “Patients will be presented the option of admission to a psychiatric unit that is an hour or more away from where they live and they will choose not to be admitted to the hospital,” says Dr. Wade.

47 ABC also reached out to the Maryland Health Care Commission and was told they are in the “information gathering phase” of the process. Ben Steffen, the executive director for MHCC, says, “The commission has reached no decision and we are currently evaluating requests and are accepting public comment.”

One of the three requirements is that the Maryland Health Care Commission will take public input into account. Advocates are hoping an online petition, to keep the proposed unit in Easton, will help. It already has almost 1,500 signatures. You can find the petition here.

Dr. Wade says the most common reason for admission to a psychiatric unit is suicidal thoughts. But the most common diagnosis is substance abuse disorder.

If you or someone you know needs help, call the free Life Crisis Hotline at 211 or the free 24/7 Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.