Medical Leaders Oversee Continuing Growth and Development

Our providers at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute continue to develop new programs and grow existing services in order to meet the changing needs of our clients and our community. This includes the ongoing development of our staff to ensure that they have the training and the tools they need to provide quality, effective care.

Below, our medical leaders describe some of the activities underway in their areas that are helping Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute and its providers build for the future.

Adult Service Line
The Adult Service Line at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute is continuing to expand its programs and is serving more adult and mature adults than ever before. During fiscal year 2018, we achieved the highest inpatient census since the inception of Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, and we experienced robust growth in the day program and outpatient services. We also obtained substantial funding from the state of Pennsylvania for our Opioid Treatment Program, allowing us to treat more patients. Meanwhile, our psychiatrists made presentations at regional and national professional conferences, enhancing the organization’s regional and national standing.

Yu-Fei Duan, MD, PhD
Medical Director of Adult Service Line and President of Medical Staff

Child and Adolescent Service Line
In fiscal 2018, the Child and Adolescent Service Line expanded it services to provide care that is more comprehensive to the children and adolescents we serve. We started the transitional clinic for step-down patients to ensure they receive timely follow-up care after their discharge from our inpatient units. We also expanded the capacity of our partial hospital programs and started group therapy in the afternoons for our adolescent population either stepping down from inpatient services, partial hospitalization or referred from the community. We also recruited two new physicians, one each for our inpatient unit and partial hospital

Ehsan Syed, MD
Medical Director of Child and Adolescent Service Line, Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute

Advance Practice Providers
We continue to support the growth of our Advance Practice Providers (APPs), developing a mentoring program for newly hired APPs in the Department of Psychiatry at Penn State Health. This initiative gives APPs the opportunity to provide precepting and shadowing opportunities for Nurse Practitioners (NP) and Physician Assistants (PA) students within the department. We are also increasing the footprint of APPs in psychiatry via presentations at Penn State Heath, Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute and other areas of the community, as well as giving APPs the opportunity to pursue educational and developmental activities.

Dr. Janet Passley-Clarke, DNP, MS, CRNP, PMH-BC
Manager Advanced Practice Professional Clinicians-Psychiatry

Mothers getting C-sections are opting for non-addictive painkillers.

In order to combat the opioid crisis, and the overprescription of certain medications, hospitals are making changes, and doctors emphasize the importance of patient education. A new Cleveland Clinic report says mothers undergoing C-sections are increasingly opting for non-opioid painkillers in an effort to fight off even the potential for addiction. ABC 27 interviews Dr Sarah Kawasaki on the use of Opioids.

View the full story here

AAMC CMO Leadership Academy: 2018-2019 Graduates and Cohort 3 Applications Opens June 18

On May 3rd, the AAMC hosted the second cohort of the CMO Leadership Academy for their final program meeting and graduation. Over the last 18 months, cohort participants actively and purposefully engaged with each other, health care experts, CMOG Steering Committee members, and me to further their executive leadership knowledge and skill development as future academic medicine CMO. It has been a privilege to coach, interact, and mentor these participants and I am happy to have them join the CMO Leadership Academy Community of Practice that also includes our 2017-2018 cohort.

INTERIM CEO Announcement, Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute

Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI) is pleased to announce it has named Kimberly Feeman, MHA, as its interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective Nov. 29, 2018. Kim will serve as leader of the organization overseeing strategic planning, day-to-day and fiscal operations, and regulatory compliance among other leadership roles.

Taking Care of Business 3-24 PA Psychiatric Institute-DBT

Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI) offers Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) as an Intensive Outpatient Program for individuals who are needing more support than outpatient therapy alone. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a form of therapy that was developed for individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) or individuals who have strong traits of this diagnosis. DBT has also been utilized to treat individuals with drug and alcohol addictions, eating disorders and for pain management.