From the Blog

2021 AltaPointe Health Year in Review

For two years, the staff at AltaPointe Health has experienced firsthand the vast and overwhelming impact of COVID-19. Building and maintaining high-quality healthcare services in the midst of a global pandemic requires creativity, perseverance, and resilience.  Our dedicated staff rose to the challenge time and time again and for that, we are truly grateful.  Never before have we felt more compelled to say thank you, we could not have done it without our staff and Board of Directors.

As we transition to the endemic phase of this healthcare crisis, we have been left with long-term workforce challenges, never before encountered.  Throughout this difficult period, AltaPointe’s Human Resources department was challenged repeatedly to attract, hire, and retain a workforce of highly qualified individuals amidst a sea of ever-changing rules, mandates, and uncertainties.

Despite such unprecedented turmoil, AltaPointe’s team successfully navigated the course of new service lines and established its fifth Federally Qualified Health Center clinic, continuing to pave the way for better health outcomes for our patients.  Furthermore, a grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration allowed AltaPointe to enhance its mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.   As a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, AltaPointe continued its expansion of whole-person care by offering primary care and care coordination services within its traditional community mental health center clinics.

AltaPointe is leading the way in treating substance use disorders with its addiction medicine fellowship, laying the groundwork for effective, intuitive treatment to give hope to those afflicted by this disease. The collaboration between AltaPointe’s Division of Medical Education and the University of South Alabama College of Medicine fulfills critical social missions, including educating and training future medical professionals, conducting state-of-the-art research, and optimizing services to provide highly specialized clinical care to the most severely ill patients.

Increasing access to behavioral health care and raising awareness has taken on greater importance during the pandemic. AltaPointe broadly expanded access to care in 2021 with the Behavioral Health Crisis Center (BHCC). A first of its kind in Alabama, the center located in Mobile serves individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders within a seven-county radius.

Across its continuum, AltaPointe experienced growth and significant accomplishments, including the launch of a pediatric pharmacy, renovations, and improvements to facilities in all seven counties, and the expansion of primary and behavioral telehealth services.

While there is always room to build on our efforts, AltaPointe works hard to prioritize the safety, protection, and well-being of its patients, providers, and employees. The pandemic has been exhausting and heartbreaking, and few have felt these emotions more keenly than healthcare workers.  For that, I am honored to have the privilege of working with such a dedicated team.  Rest assured, the communities AltaPointe serves can depend on technology-driven and scientifically-based treatment and education, enhanced by compassionate care and a commitment to providing better health outcomes for all.

MEDIA COVERAGE  

AltaPointe Health continues to stand out as the expert in healthcare in 2021. Throughout the year, AltaPointe providers were consulted by local and state news outlets on issues such as the importance of children’s mental health, the opioid epidemic, and providing primary and behavioral health for people diagnosed with COVID.

The coverage appeared across multiple media mediums, including radio, television, and print. A few examples are listed below.

1.28.21 Access Magazine – Dr. Parker’s feature
2.15.21 FOX10 – Alabama Together Apart, AltaPointe provides mental health in the pandemic
2.25.21 Coosa County Newspaper – Accordia provides COVID vaccine clinics
3.10.21 FM Talk 106.5 – Accordia provides Integrated Care for children
3.12.21 FOX10 – AltaPointe Crisis Center to open in May
3.31.21 FOX10 – Accordia provides Integrated Care for children
4.9.21 Gulf Coast News Today – AltaPointe providing mental health help during a pandemic

4.22.21 Fox 10 CEO Tuerk Schlesinger & Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson holds press conference to address new partnership
5.4.21 FOX10 – United Way Partner Spotlight on Accordia’s Integrated Care for children
5.4.21 FOX10 – Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week
5.18.21 WKRG – Mental Health Hotline with AltaPointe Health
7.30.21 FOX10 – AltaPointe’s new Addiction Medicine Fellowship as opioid misuse on the rise

8.1.2021 – Mobile Bay Monthly, Leaders in Health, featuring Julie Bellcase, VP Operations pg 74
8.11.21 WPMI – Gov. Ivey cuts ribbon for AltaPointe Behavioral Health Crisis Center

8.11.21 FOX 10 – Gov. Ivey cuts ribbon for AltaPointe Behavioral Health Crisis Center
9.14.21 WPMI – Accordia provides monoclonal antibody treatment
9.15.21 WPMI – Social media effects on teen mental health
10.24.21 WPMI – AltaPointe provides pandemic counseling with Alabama Together Apart
11.10.21 WPMI – Screen time effect on children’s mental health

Social Media allowed us to educate and inform people across AltaPointe’s service area on children’s mental health, the importance of immunizations, and cancer prevention, and joining the AltaPointe team, to name a few.

BayView Professional Associates introduces new option for treating major depressive disorder

Sadness is a natural part of life. People may feel sad or depressed when someone they love passes away, or they experience one of life’s challenges, such as a serious illness or divorce. These feelings are normal and often short-lived. However, for some, the feeling of sadness can persist and intensify for extended periods. When that happens, they may have major depressive disorder. Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders in the United States and the most common diagnosis treated by AltaPointe clinicians.

AltaPointe’s BayView Professional Associates is offering a new treatment option to help adults struggling with major depressive disorder, specifically for those who have tried and failed other treatment options and medications. “We are excited to offer Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to adult patients at BayView,” said Olivia Nettles, director of BayView Professional Associates. “Treatment-resistant depression is a devastating condition associated with early death from suicide or poor physical health and an impaired ability to work. There is a population of patients who do not respond to antidepressant treatment, and this is another option available to help them live a better life.”

TMS is a noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. When a nerve cell “fires,” an electrical impulse travels along its length. It communicates with other nerve cells by releasing neuro-transmitters, which create an electrical impulse in other cells. In depressed patients, electrical activity in some regions of the brain is reduced. TMS uses a focused electromagnetic coil to rapidly pulse a magnetic field to the targeted area of the brain. The magnetic pulses induce an electrical current in the brain, stimulating the nerve cells and increasing the brain activity to normal levels.

John Conrad, assistant director of BayView Professional Associate and a licensed independent clinical social worker with more than 25 years of experience, encourages people to learn all they can about the treatment. “If you have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and medication is not working, or the side effects are intolerable, you should ask your doctor about TMS,” Conrad said. “Treatment-resistant depression is historically debilitating; this is a new option with fewer side effects than traditional medications, and offers a chance to live life anew.”

Some people living with major depressive disorder cannot remember life without depression. The National Institute of Health estimates 10 to 30 percent of people with depression do not respond to first-line treatments. Treatment-resistant depression is a clinical concern and can pose significant burdens to patients and their families.

“TMS is readily incorporated into the patient’s treatment plan and allows for minimal disruption during the day. Appointments run 35 minutes at the most. Research supports the use of TMS to treat major depressive disorder, as well as anecdotal experience,” Sean Sinclair, M.D., said. “This new option for patients adds immensely to our services here at BayView.”

To learn more about how TMS may help you, call BayView Professional Associates at (251) 450-2250.

Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

AL-501 CoC Public Notice

We collect personal information directly from you for reasons that are discussed in our privacy statement. We may be required to collect some personal information by law or by organizations that give us money to operate this program. Other personal information that we collect is important to run our programs, to improve services for homeless and/ or at-risk persons, and to better understand the needs of homeless and/ or at-risk persons. We only collect information that we consider to be appropriate. To read our full Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) privacy notice

The collection and use of all personal information is guided by strict standards of confidentiality. A copy of our Privacy Notice describing out privacy practice is available to all clients upon request.

To read our full Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) privacy notice click here. 

 

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