For 63-year-old Rebecca Brockway, her experiences with depression and mania go back to adolescence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI struggled even back in my teens with depression and what I thought were just bursts of energy,\u201d she shares. \u201cBut those got worse, and my depression got worse. So, I sought help, but I didn\u2019t feel like I was heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca reached out to numerous places for support but was told repeatedly, \u201cWe\u2019re not taking new patients\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m not sure we can help.\u201d Finally, she found MultiCare Rockwood Behavioral Health and met a counselor who was committed to partnering with her on her journey to better mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe for the first time in my life, I was listened to, and I didn\u2019t feel like I was weird or crazy. It gave me hope,\u201d Rebecca remembers. \u201cMy counselor said, \u2018I will not abandon you, I will be here for you, I will help you, but you have to do some hard work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
While previous counselors had treated her with medication for depression, no one had ever addressed her mania before. At MultiCare Rockwood Behavioral Health, Rebecca was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, getting answers for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n
MultiCare Rockwood Behavioral Health is available to help patients like Rebecca so that no one feels alone when facing a mental health challenge. Along with providing a spectrum of treatment and support services in person and virtually, providers and staff work with primary care physicians to care for the whole person \u2014 both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n
But to make this kind of care accessible to everyone, behavioral health services need to grow in the Inland Northwest region. Access to such services has long been an issue here. About 28 percent of all patients with ongoing or complex medical conditions also suffer from depression, anxiety or other behavioral health concerns.<\/p>\n
Behavioral health \u201cis still a growing service line here in the Inland Northwest,\u201d Samantha Clark, director of programs and strategic partnerships for MultiCare\u2019s Inland Northwest region, explains. \u201cBut there are multiple projects on the horizon. One of those is a crisis stabilization unit in MultiCare Deaconess Hospital. We also have plans to grow outpatient services within an embedded community center that will provide much needed behavioral health care access to two of Spokane\u2019s poorest zip codes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, MultiCare and Kootenai Health announced plans to work together on select behavioral health initiatives.<\/p>\n
Partnerships like this, as well as community support, will help provide better access to essential behavioral health services in the region.<\/p>\n
One of the ways to help achieve the region\u2019s goals to expand behavioral health care in the Inland Northwest is through philanthropy, and MultiCare Inland Northwest Foundation\u2019s upcoming virtual concert hopes to light the way.<\/p>\n
During the MultiCare Heart Strings for Hope concert \u2014 which will take place on Tuesday, March 9, at 6pm \u2014 Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Scotty McCreery and more than 20 other artists will perform in the name of increasing access to behavioral health services.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerous contributions through Heart Strings for Hope will help MultiCare expand access to care and provide high-quality, integrated physical and behavioral health care throughout the Inland Northwest,\u201d says Carolyn Kadyk, executive director of MultiCare Inland Northwest Foundation.<\/p>\n
Tickets to the concert can be purchased at multicareheartstrings.org, with a \u201cPay What You Can\u201d pricing model: $10, $25 or $50 per household. Attendees can tune in at 6pm, hear Rebecca\u2019s full story and support efforts to improve behavioral health services.<\/p>\n