Inpatient Adult Psychiatry (5W Community)

The Upstate Community Hospital Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (5W) admits both voluntary and involuntary patients eighteen years and older with a wide variety of psychiatric and substance use disorders. While such problems are the primary reason for admission, many patients have additional medical needs.5W is a 25 bed, acute care unit with an average length of stay of 7 days.

The unit utilizes an inter-disciplinary team approach. The doctors,physician assistants, nurse practitioners,social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, and mental health therapy aides all work together to help patients get better.

Referrals

Patients may be referred from:

• Upstate University and Community Hospital emergency room
• Other clinical departments within Upstate University and Community Hospital
• P.E.P. (Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation Program) (via the Transfer Center)
• Community physicians (via the Transfer Center)
• Other facilities (via the Transfer Center)

Plan of Care

Patients are offered an individualized plan of care consisting of individual, group, and family psychotherapies, medications, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and recreation and occupational therapies with a strong emphasis on skill development through psycho-educational programming.

Our unit is devoted to being a safe and secure environment. It is designed to specifically treat mood and psychotic illnesses. Therefore, we value that our patients and staff interact with each other with respect and that patients express feelings in words rather than in hostile verbal or physical actions. 

The unit is an important site for the training of psychiatry residents, medical students, physician assistants and psychiatric nurse practitioners. They work with an interdisciplinary treatment team of social workers, nurses, and recreational therapists to treat the entirety of the client. 

Services

• Medication Management
• Individual Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

Personnel

Unit Director

• Helga R. Herold, D.O., Medical Director
• Attending psychiatrists
• Edward Bach, D.O.
• Muslim Khan, M.D.
• Justin Meyer, M.D.
• Ahmed Nizar, M.D.

Other unit staff include:

• Nurse Manager
• Clinical Training Specialist
• Social Workers