Feb. 24--As recently as last summer, there were only two psychiatrists in Cameron County, and neither of them practiced full time in Brownsville.
Less than six months later, the city has a 37-bed mental health facility, two full-time psychiatrists and an outpatient clinic in the works.
County officials and administrators at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville's new psychiatric facility said at a conference Friday that they're excited that the region has made quick strides to improve mental health care.
"This (center) is a real benefit for the entire area," said Cameron County Commissioner John Wood, chairman of the county's mental health task force, which has worked to bring more psychiatrists to the region. "It's going to relieve the pressure here tremendously, and I think it's the first bud of many things to come."
Valley Baptist's Behavioral Health Services, housed at VBMC-Brownsville's East Campus, held an educational seminar on mental health disorders Friday. Officials say it's the first in a series of mental health-related conferences that will be offered at the facility.
"For this first session, we wanted to let the community know what services we have," said Becky Tres-nicky, director for inpatient behavioral health services. "The goal is to educate people on primary mental health issues, and we chose topics that would be of the greatest interest (to health providers) right now."
Speakers at the seminar talked about post-traumatic stress disorder, dementia and mental illness in older adults and psychotic disorders.
Health care providers need to know the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder because it's surpris-ingly common, said Barbara Magallanes, a clinical social worker at Valley Baptist-Brownsville.
"It really does seem we're having more instances of stress-related disorders," Magallanes said.
Counselors and doctors also need to be alert for signs of depression and dementia in senior adults, speakers said.
Valley Baptist-Brownsville's outpatient mental health program for older adults is housed at the East Campus, and officials hope to open an outpatient psychiatric clinic for all adults later this year.
Educational sessions, more counselors and psychiatrists are all resources Cameron County desperately needed, local mental health advocates said.
"This is just the beginning," said Rosie Cavazos, behavioral health business development coordinator for Valley Baptist-Brownsville. Cavazos also served on the county's mental health task force. "This is going to be part of bringing more (mental health care) to this area."
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