Mental Health Crisis Services

Anyone living in Contra Costa County who experiences a mental or emotional crisis can get help. Mental Health Crisis Services are available in person or over the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Inpatient Psychiatric Services

Inpatient Psychiatric Services provides 43 acute psychiatric beds, with 4 seclusion rooms and 3 restraint rooms. It is operated on a twenty-four hour basis, accepting admissions from the Psychiatric Emergency Service and the Richmond Crisis Unit. Admission to the inpatient unit is either voluntary or involuntary. The patients admitted involuntarily are those determined to be a danger to self or to others, or to be gravely disabled. Staffing by acuity has been instituted in an effort to ensure adequate staffing to minimize violent incidents and to insure the safety of patients, staff, and visitors.

The Inpatient Psychiatric Service serves individuals who suffer from severe and persistent acute mental illness. The patients admitted are adults, eighteen years or older, who have a major psychiatric diagnosis in the acute stage of the illness and dual-diagnosed substance abusers. All practical attempts are made to admit patients on a voluntary status, or to convert involuntary patients to voluntary status, but there are situations where this is not in the best interests of the patient due to safety and welfare considerations.

The Inpatient Psychiatric Service provides a structured environment, which provides for patient safety, including 24-hour nursing care, which focuses on crisis intervention and milieu therapy. A majority of the patients admitted to the inpatient service originate in other institutions or are homeless. Many of our patients are found to have infectious diseases or chronic medical conditions, which are not being treated prior to admission. Often, either due to their extremely compromised mental state or due to their homeless situation, the patients present malnourished and dehydrated, and require a significant amount of medical as well as psychiatric intervention.

Treatments and Services Offered

The following types of treatment are offered on an individualized basis and incorporated into the individualized plan for patient care:

1. Comprehensive Evaluation: Diagnostic work-up, psychological testing, evaluation of patient strengths/weaknesses, psychosocial factors (family, financial, vocational, and educational), and task behavior assessment.
2. Psychotherapy: Individual, group, and family.
3. Activities Therapy: Art, music, movement, drama, self-care, occupational therapy, specialized groups, pet therapy.
4. Recreation: Sports, exercise, dances, barbecues, indoor games, walks, social events.
5. Medication: As needed as determined by the individual patient’s treatment team.
6. Education: Self-care, medication, money-management, family education, symptom awareness and management, sexuality issues.
7. Discharge Planning and Placement: Discharge planning groups are available for individuals and care providers, AA meetings are held in the hospital and resources after discharge are provided for continuing care. We also have the Crossroads Community Re-entry Program available.
8. Medical and Physical Health Evaluation: Treatment and care as indicated by individual patient need.

- from the website.

Charles Saldhanha, MD, Chief Psychiatrist (since 2007)
Rick Slawsky, MD (since 2007)
Chip Stone, MD (since 2007)

Independent Contractors (part-time)

Jasdeep Aulakh, MD (since 2007)
Navdeep Baath, MD (since 2007)
Alex Gorodetsky, MD (since 2007)
Gerry Heitzman, MD (since 2007)
Pradeep Kumar, MD (since 2007)
Alfeo Reminajes, MD (since 2007)
Richie Schwarz, MD (since 2007)
Amapreet Singh, MD (since 2007)
Nakul Varshney, MD (since 2007)

Teracita Murphy, MD (since 2007)
Artoteles Tandinco, MD (since 2007)
Adrian Grant, MD (since 2007)

“TBH is providing a "top-notch" professional service for our patients. We asked them to take over our inpatient psychiatric services with a month's notice. Gary and the team recruited very highly qualified psychiatrists at a moment's notice and they improved the quality of our care dramatically. TBH is just fabulous!” - Jeffrey V. Smith (December 4, 2007)

“I want to extend my gratitude and comment on the process so far. One month ago (May 14, 2007), I asked you to come in and present a proposal to senior staff to take over our contract for Crisis stabilization and inpatient psychiatry. Your proposal and presentation was extremely well received and we got an immediate green light to terminate with our former contractor and proceed with TBH.

“Since then, on behalf of CCRMC, TBH has hired 7 permanent crisis-stabilization doctors, and 3 inpatient doctors. Additionally, TBH has assumed contractual relationships with all five of our independent contractors.

“Further, TBH has coordinated locum tenens coverage to bring us closer to full staffing the very day the contract begins (June 16, 2007) than we've been in the three years I've been the administrative director of the services. Not only has TBH been able to provide doctors, but the level of quality and experience in the medical staff at CCRMC will benefit tremendously from the quality and experience of the TBH physicians.” - Miles D. Kramer, (June 12, 2007)