Appalachian Behavioral Healthcare
Appalachian Psychiatric Healthcare System (ABH) provides mental health treatment and services, both inpatient and outpatient, for South Central Ohio and Southeastern Ohio residents. The system consists of two adult psychiatric hospitals, Southeast Psychiatric Hospital (SPH) and Cambridge Psychiatric Hospital (CPH), along with six community-based programs, providing inpatient services twenty-four hours a day,seven days a week in rural areas of Ohio along with continuity of care that extends into the communities served by Appalachian Psychiatric Healthcare System. ABH is an active member of the mental health network where hospital-community partnerships are forming to better care for the mentally ill.
The two hospitals functioned separately until January, 1996. At the time of the merger, both hospitals were providing essential services to their communities, but both needed to reduce overhead costs. The merger allowed both hospitals to continue their missions of providing quality treatment for persons with mental illness while cutting costs by reducing layers of management and consolidation along functional lines of service delivery. There is now one Chief Executive Officer, Don Mobley Jr., and one Chief Clinical Officer, Mark (Max) McGee, M.D.
The catchment areas for both hospitals are characterized by rural populations and high unemployment rates. A result of serving these economically depressed areas is an increased use of public agencies and assistance programs, and increased drug/alcohol problems. By remaining in these communities, both SPH and CPH impact the treatment and support services provided to the residents within the 17 counties served by the two hospitals.