Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat officially opened it's new Patient Activities Suite. The newly remodeled space is located in the basement of the Osgood Building and offers a secure setting for patients to participate in a variety of off-unit activities including meditation and relaxation, fitness and movement, arts and crafts, television viewing, and listening to music. The Osgood Patient Activities Suite compliments other projects the Retreat has undetaken in recent years to provide safe, secure environments where inpatients who have reached certain treatment goals can enjoy supervised off-unit recreation and other passtimes while still receiving hospital level care.
Those other projects include a secure outdoor courtyard where patients can walk, enjoy fresh air, and participate in activities including basketball, along with an adjacent indoor recreation area (ping-pong table, etc.) that can double as a movie theater.
"Patient safety is always our primary concern," said Gerri Cote, vice president of Operations. "However, that does not exclude finding innovative ways to allow patients a chance to get off the unit and engage in healthy and enjoyable activities. We've worked hard to strike the right balance. Providing our patients with opportunities for recreation is something that has always set the Retreat apart and we continue to feel strongly about the dignity and value it offers."
Modern Healthcare magazine has ranked the Brattleboro Retreat as 12th on its 2016 list of the 15 largest private behavioral health providers in the United States. The rankings are reflective of patient revenue in 2014 based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital data. The Brattleboro Retreat is a not-for-profit organization that had a $62.4 million budget in 2014.
In 2014, the year the Retreat first appeared in the Modern Healthcare rankings, the Retreat came in at 14th (based on 2012 CMS hospital data), and in 2015 the Retreat was 13th based on CMS numbers for 2013.
“The rankings clearly demonstrate the Retreat’s continued growth,” said Louis Josephson, president and chief executive officer. “But more important is the fact that we are finding ways to reach out and provide critical services to individuals whose needs might otherwise go unmet.”
The Retreat has accomplished this, in part, by launching several specialty programs since 2009 designed to serve distinct patient populations. These include a program for men and women in uniform (police, fire, military, etc.) who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other duty-related problems; a 15-bed inpatient program for adults who identify as LGBT; and a 14-bed inpatient program designed to meet the unique needs of “emerging adults” ages 18—26.
In March 2013, the Retreat partnered with the Vermont Department of Mental Health, which funded the construction of a 14-bed, state-of-the art unit to provide care for patients displaced from the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury following Tropical Storm Irene.
The Retreat has also invested more than $10 million in capital improvements in recent years that have resulted in a variety of important upgrades including a complete remodel of the hospital’s 12-bed Children’s Inpatient unit; construction of a secure outdoor courtyard for patients; a fully modernized pharmacy; an electronic health record; a complete cafeteria remodel; new roofing on the administration and adjacent buildings; and new patient activity areas designed for relaxation, exercise, and creative pursuits.
In 2015, the Retreat was staffed for 122 inpatient beds, which represented an increase of 72 beds over 2006. In terms of patients served, the Retreat had approximately 4,000 inpatient admissions in 2015 and approximately 6,000 individuals total were served in combined inpatient and outpatient programs. By contrast, in 2006, inpatient admissions were slightly under 2,000.
This growth has resulted in a doubling of the hospital’s workforce since 2007 with more than 900 employees now on the payroll.
The Brattleboro Retreat, founded in 1834, is a not-for-profit, regional specialty psychiatric hospital and addictions treatment center, providing a full range of diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation services for individuals of all ages and their families. Recognized as a national leader in the treatment mental illness and addiction, the Brattleboro Retreat offers a high quality, individualized, comprehensive continuum of care including inpatient, partial hospitalization, residential and outpatient treatment.