ABOUT CHAMPLAIN VALLEY PHYSICIANS HOSPITAL
The Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) is one of six hospitals in the University of Vermont Health Network dedicated to serving individuals and their families in northern New York and Vermont. Located in Plattsburgh, N.Y., opposite Vermont from across Lake Champlain, CVPH runs two distinct, short-term behavioral health units; one for adults and one for children and adolescents between the ages of six and 18.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Behavioral health treatment at CVPH is meant for individuals experiencing a severe crisis. As stays average no more than five to seven days, treatment is very much short-term. Psychiatric issues such as major depression, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder are addressed here. Families also play a key role from admissions through discharge.
In both units, programming has three components to it: assessment, stabilization, and discharge planning. Using evidence-based approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), groups help participants develop skills essential for coping, problem solving, and situational perception. Ultimately, clients learn to deal with their emotions more effectively.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The behavioral health unit features a team of psychiatrists, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, social workers, mental health therapists, and other qualified professionals. CVPH itself has more than 160 physicians and 700 registered nurses on staff.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
The behavioral health hospital has two distinct, short-term units. While there are 18 beds in the adult unit, 12 of which are in private rooms (the remaining six in shared rooms), there are 12 private beds for children and teens.
There are some rules for visitors. Only two visitors are allowed at a time per client, food may be brought from outside, but children 12 and younger are prohibited from visiting. Visiting hours are from 5 to 6 p.m., weekdays, and from 3 to 6 p.m., on weekends.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
In the sole Best-rehabs.com survey response to date, a loved one, presumably the parent of a former client, outlined their family member’s experience at CVPH: “Even though he didn’t want to be there, he stayed and completed the program. It helped and he was okay for three years. Then unfortunately [he] went back and refuses to stop.”
Despite this impartial success story, the anonymous reviewer gave five stars for the effectiveness of treatment and discharge procedures at the hospital, and four stars for the staff’s level of training and experience, the family inclusion, and the treatment for co-occurring disorders, amongst other areas. They did, however, suggest that there was a “lack of extra activities.”
WHAT STAFF SAY
Best-rehabs.com has not yet received any reviews from this facility’s staff members.
On Indeed, however, 13 individuals awarded the hospital an average rating of 3.9 out of five stars. Collectively, reviewers found that the “very clean” hospital had an “efficient” and “friendly” work environment, where nurses and other staff “really did care about each patient.”
FINANCING
CVPH participates with an extensive list of major insurance plans, including state Medicaid and Medicare, and offers payment plans as well as financial assistance for the uninsured and underinsured.