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In trying times, Ascension St. Agnes Hospital expands access to mental health care


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Catholic Review Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, Local News, News

Ascension St. Agnes Hospital has expanded its mental health and counseling offerings to enable patients with a smartphone or laptop to gain online access to find a counselor, make an appointment or meet with a therapist.

Through the app, Ascension Online Care, patients can meet with psychiatrists for support and medication, or therapists, including both psychologists and counselors for help with life’s challenges.

“During these unprecedented times of global distress due to COVID-19, it is more important now than ever before to provide crucial access to mental health services,” Dr. Pinar Miski, the west Baltimore hospital’s chief of psychiatry, said in a statement to the Catholic Review. “Often those with the most need for relief are the last to seek it out. My hope is that this virtual treatment option will encourage those who are reluctant but suffering to give help a chance.”

“COVID made us pivot,” said Lee Westgate, lead behavioral health therapist at St. Agnes. “It has challenged us to be more creative in providing services.”

Urged to remain at home during the coronavirus pandemic, families with adult children suddenly have everyone working from home, according to Westgate. Family dynamics that were manageable when everybody spent part of the day at work became a bigger issue. People have felt distress at foregoing things they enjoyed doing, seeing people, taking part in rituals, in having diminished expectations. This was especially true during the holidays, Westgate said.

“The experience of being home is very stressful,” he said. 

Mental health care providers have striven to help their clients create a space all their own and set boundaries and limits, but other issues are not as easy to deal with.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report in June stating that some 40 percent of American adults were struggling with mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, trauma or stress-related disorder symptoms, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide because of the pandemic. These included 13.3 percent who reported starting or increasing substance abuse and 11 percent seriously considering suicide. More than 30 percent reported symptoms of depression or anxiety. Presumably, those figures rose in the second half of 2020.

“The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with mental health challenges related to the morbidity and mortality caused by the disease and to mitigation activities, including the impact of physical distancing and stay-at-home orders,” the CDC said. 

“The incidences of partner violence are very high right now,” Westgate said, adding that substance abuse is a growing concern as well.

“It’s easy for people to feel like they are going backwards,” he said.

Online offerings add another level of care to the hospital’s mental health care services.

The service is available to anyone, regardless of whether he or she is already a patient. No insurance is required, according to Dr. Tania Elliott, Ascension’s virtual care chief medical officer.

“It’s particularly suited to mental health and counseling services, with patients having access to therapists from the privacy of their own homes,” Elliott said.

Virtual care is a good option for those who prefer meeting from their own homes to going out in public – either because of virus concerns or privacy issues, said Tyra Williams, a social worker at Ascension St. Agnes.

Patients still may see a mental health provider in person, she added, noting that some don’t have access to the internet or technology – or just suffer from “Zoom fatigue.”

Phone counseling and in-person meetings at the primary care providers’ offices are other options.

“We really try to meet the patient where they are,” Westgate said.

Patients needing mental health care may need other services as well, especially for those living on the margins, whether due to age, race or financial situation, said Williams.

“COVID has really changed our social safety net. This can bridge those gaps,” she said.

Williams recounted a recent meeting with a new client who was homeless. Her first thought was to get her housing but as she listened, Williams learned the woman was most concerned about getting child care for her daughter. “She wanted to get back to work,” Williams said.

“It’s a collaborative effort we have with our clients to improve their overall mental health as well as physical health,” she said.

For more information, visit ascensiononlinecare.org or download the app from the Apple or Google Play app stores. To find a physician, call 866-690-9355. Another option is to go to getsaintagnescare.com to find a doctor or begin a mental health care visit.

Also see: Question Corner: Suicide/ What is true forgiveness?

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