Document text
RVMC will lose four psychiatric physicians They provided care in emergency room By BILL KETTLER Four psychiatrists will no longer be members of the medical staff at Medford's regional psychiatric care unit. The physicians provide medical services at the Southern Oregon Regional Psychiatric Unit (SORPU) at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Doctors David Callanan, James Collier, Frederick Fried, and Jeffrey Thompson will leave the psychiatric unit between April 1 and April 30. They have worked at the hospital under an agreement to provide round-the-clock psychiatric assessment for people who are brought to the hospital's emergency room. They will maintain their private practices. "There's a host of reasons for their leaving," said Roseanne McLaren, RVMC's senior vice president for patient services. "There are a lot of complications in the world of psychiatry." Efforts to reach the doctors for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. McLaren suggested the doctors' disappointment with funding for mental health care played some role in their resignations. "Our psychiatrists are frustrated," she said. "They can't provide the level of care they'd like to. "Every need for mental health is not being met, and it hasn't been for a long time. "There's not a lot of funding for this kind of stuff." McLaren said three psychiatrists who are members of RVMC's staff will continue to provide medical services for the 25-bed psychiatric unit. "The resignations will not impair our ability to provide services," she said. RVMC's psychiatric unit serves residents of Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Douglas counties. Oregon counties have taken primary responsibility for psychiatric care since state mental hospitals closed about 10 years ago. Funding for mental health care has not kept pace with the needs, said Scott Sonenshine, RVMC's clinical manager for mental health services. "The pressure is coming back to the communities," he said. RVMC staff met with Hank Collins, Jackson County's director of health and human services, Wednesday evening to discuss how to replace the psychiatrists and improve psychiatric care. "SORPU is a must-have facility," said Collins. "We must have the psychiatric staff to care for these patients. There simply are not other resources in the state to perform these functions." Collins said bringing new psychiatrists to the Rogue Valley has been difficult in the past. "We've been recruiting for months and months to get one on our staff," he said. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA