SMH Psychiatric Services Staff

Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP), Psychiatry Resident Physicians, Registered Nurses (RN), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), and mental health specialists all work together to provide the full range of community mental health-based psychiatric services in accordance with WAC 388-865. These services include psychiatric diagnostic evaluations, medication management, psychotherapeutic interventions, and psychiatric case consultation.  SMH Psychiatric Services are part of the Lead Agency function within the Spokane County Regional Support Network (RSN) system of care, and therefore are available to any eligible mental health care consumer who meets medical and financial eligibility criteria and are enrolled at any RSN provider agency. The SMH Psychiatric Services staff treats both voluntary and involuntary patients on an Involuntary Treatment Act Less Restrictive Alternative treatment program according to the requirements and associated regulations under RCW 71.05.

SMH Psychiatrists are physicians licensed in Washington State under RCW 18.57 or 18.71 with a valid US Drug Enforcement Agency registration number. Practice privileges are granted as defined in the SMH Privileging Policy and Procedure, and SMH Psychiatrists also maintain practice privileges in the Department of Psychiatry at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Psychiatrists provide emergent on-call services 24 hours/day, 365 days/year, which also includes sharing in the on-call service rotation for the Sacred Heart Medical Center Emergency Department and psychiatric unit admission responsibilities. While on-call, SMH psychiatrists are also available to provide brief telephone consultation to community physicians to assist them in more effectively recognizing and appropriately treating persons experiencing symptoms of psychiatric disorders in their own practice.

Psychiatric ARNPs are licensed in the State of Washington under RCW 18.79 and maintain physician collaborative supervision and practice agreements and US Drug Enforcement Agency registration numbers in order to prescribe scheduled controlled substances and legend drugs per WAC 18.79.050. RNs and LPNs are also licensed in the State of Washington under RCW 18.79. Many of the RNs in Psychiatric Services are qualified as Mental Health Professionals and Geriatric Mental Health Specialists. Nurses provide a wide array of nursing services in addition to medication management, including psycho-educational activities, medication education, and nutrition and wellness education for consumers.

Psychiatric Services for children, families, and adults including routine outpatient psychiatric diagnostic evaluations, medication management, psychotherapeutic interventions, and case consultation services are provided on-site at several SMH facilities and off-site in various community settings. For elderly mental health consumers still living independently, SMH Psychiatric Services staff members work together with SMH Elder Services staff to provide clinical outreach services in private homes.

An SMH Child Psychiatrist also provides several hours/week of psychiatric consultation and treatment recommendations to the medical staff of Spokane County Juvenile Court and Detention Services for a very challenging population of adolescent inmates with mental illness.