Two Promotions Enhance Child Psychiatric Services
at Penobscot Bay Medical Center
Penobscot Bay Medical Center is pleased to announce the promotion of two mental health specialists in the hospital's Outpatient Psychiatry Department.
Dr. Luke Engeriser has been named medical director of outpatient psychiatry. Dr. Sally Cooper has been named associate medical director for child psychiatry. Previously, both were staff psychiatrists at PBMC.
These promotions allow PBMC to offer the community a comprehensive approach to mental health issues through a multidisciplinary team of providers.
"The fact that we are now working in a team format here for outpatient services is really important, especially for children's services," said Cooper. "We are meeting together weekly and coordinating our patient plans. Child psychiatrists by nature are team players."
The children's team consists of therapists, case managers, the child psychiatry program nurse, child psychiatrist and program manager. Communication and collaboration with primary care providers and other medical and mental health providers is integral to good care. The children's team has openings for therapy and child psychiatry services and is accepting all referrals.
Cooper and Engeriser work in the Mid-Coast Mental Health Center building on Union Street in Rockland. They also share on-call coverage with the other PBMC psychiatrists at the Psychiatric Addiction and Recovery Center (PARC) and provide supervision to the Crisis Team, responding to calls from the Mental Health Crisis 24-hour hotline. Anyone who is having trouble emotionally or who knows of an adult or child in distress can call the hotline number: 1-888-568-1112.
"One of our primary goals is to increase access to mental health care, particularly through the offices of the primary care providers in the community," said Engeriser. "We recognize that there has been a shortage of providers in the past and sometimes access has been limited. We are working to change that through ongoing recruiting efforts and a systematic review of our referral processes."
The PBMC Outpatient Psychiatry department includes eight psychiatrists, 13 psychotherapists, three nurses and one psychiatric nurse practitioner. The department can be reached at 701-4400. For more information online, visit penbayhealthcare.org/mcmentalhealth.
Founded in 1965, Mid-Coast Mental Health Center is licensed by the state of Maine to provide behavioral health services to the citizens of our communities. Over the past 40 years, the center has expanded services to meet the growing needs of our community. With an unwavering commitment to client-centered care, Mid-Coast Mental Health Center's clinical staff provides compassionate, high quality care that is accessible and flexible. Our extensive range of services is designed to support people of all ages who are facing life stresses, behavioral health problems or a mental illness.