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                           JeffNEWS, April 1995
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THE JEFFERSON 2000 FUND
Crisis Center Receives Pew Grant
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The Pew Charitable Trusts have granted $164,000 to our hospital's Crisis
Center through the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services in Philadelphia.
The gift will enable us to better serve a growing patient population of
people with severe mental illnesses who also have untreated, chronic
physical conditions.

The Pew grant funds the Comprehensive Community Liaison Program, developed 
collaboratively by the department of nursing service and the Crisis Center,
a 24-hour psychiatric service located within the hospital's emergency
department.

The Crisis Center records nearly 3,000 patient visits a year. Almost half
of the patients, who come from many areas of Philadelphia, have additional
persistent medical problems. Over the last few years, Crisis Center
personnel observed that too often, these medical conditions had been
overlooked or not attended to properly before the emergency psychiatric visit
and that followup medical care after leaving the Crisis Center was
frequently nonexistent.

"We felt we needed to strengthen our services by building a bridge between
the two care-delivery systems - mental-health and medical - especially when
Philadelphia has so many high quality medical services that should be
available to these patients," said Kenneth M. Certa, MD, director of the
Crisis Center and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and human
behavior, Jefferson Medical College (JMC).

"The concept of a liaison program, one that would provide skilled healthcare 
professionals who would serve as advocates, made sense," Dr. Certa said.
"These liaisons would know what services are available, both psychiatric and
medical, as well as the most effective way to help those in need take
advantage of them."


Program CCLs Will Coordinate Patient Care
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The staff for the Comprehensive Community Liaison Program includes nurse Jane
Early, RN, and social worker Beth Santine, BSW, who will be called CCLs
(Community Care Liaisons). They work directly with patients to coordinate
their care.

Among their responsibilities are ensuring that medical needs are properly
assessed. Once that is done, they locate and make appointments with primary-
care physicians, arrange transportation, supervise medical regimens, monitor
drug interactions and provide education and advocacy.

"We want to remove the barriers to treatment," explained Barbara D. Schraeder,
PhD, RN, nurse researcher, department of nursing service; research associate
professor of pediatrics, JMC, and a member of the group of clinicians who
formulated the program.

"Negotiating the system can be impossible for people undergoing too much 
psychological stress to care for themselves properly. Untreated hypertension
can lead to kidney damage, and uncontrolled seizures may lead to severe
injury. The liaisons will work not only with patients, their families and the
crisis team, but also with community mental-health case managers and managed-
care networks, for example."

The liaison concept was brought to life by a Jefferson-based work group that,
in addition to Dr. Certa and Dr. Schraeder, included Linda McComas, MSN,
program director for service delivery and nursing care coordinator at the
Crisis Center; Diane Peters, MSN, assistant nursing director, medical and
psychiatry care programs; Faye Kahn, ACSW, social work supervisor, department
of psychiatry; Donna Kovach, MSN, nurse manager, psychiatry care program;
and Theresa Miller, RN, MS, director, home health services.

The Crisis Center at Jefferson is a place where the medical and mental-health 
systems intersect, making it an ideal location within the Philadelphia
community for this program. The liaison team will also use the many available
community resources that have agreed to cooperate in this effort. Among them
are: the City of Philadelphia district health centers and Department of Human
Services, the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging and the city's Office of
Services for the Homeless and Adults.

For further information about the program or to discuss referrals, please
call Dr. Certa or Ms. McComas at the Crisis Center, 6541.


Employee Campaign Gains Momentum
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One month into The Jefferson 2000 Fund employee campaign, Jeffersonians are
showing great support for the University and its goals through their gifts
and pledges, which are coming in at a steady pace. You still have time to
"Deal Yourself In" and participate in this Universitywide effort by returning
your pledge card today.


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Information provided by:  Editor, JeffNEWS
                          (215) 955-6204
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