MUSKEGON, Mich. — Trinity Health plans to close the Trinity Health Life Counseling center later this year. It treats around 2,000 patients.
It's a move patient Jan McCarthy is dreading.
"I'm very passionate about it," said McCarthy of the center, "It's meant a lot to me."
McCarthy said the therapist she found at the Life Counseling center and group therapies have helped pull her out of a "two year sabbatical" from life.
"They offer groups that no other in the area offers," said McCarthy.
She said she has not heard any information from Trinity Health about what will happen to her care or the care of 2,000 others.
"All the psychiatrists that prescribe your meds, who's going to take that over?" said McCarthy, "Is it going to be an overload on your physicians? Is it going to be an overload on the ER, once they come off their meds?"
In a statement, Trinity Health Muskegon and Hackley Community Care said:
"In response to continuing regulatory and staffing challenges, it has become necessary for Trinity Health Muskegon to discontinue its Life Counseling service later this year. To ensure a safe and seamless transition of services, Hackley Community Care (HCC) is dedicated to meeting the needs of the community and will welcome any Trinity Health Life Counseling patients into care that wish to continue receiving mental health services.
Our first priority is to refer patients to HCC or other nearby providers. Trinity Health Life Counseling will remain open until all affected patients have secured continuing mental health services. Patients will soon be receiving more information about referral options, and our therapists will work directly with them throughout the transition.
Trinity Health Michigan has a long history of providing mental health services to residents of Muskegon County and surrounding communities. We continue to offer the full continuum of mental health services including inpatient psychiatric services, outpatient counseling, substance abuse treatment, and tele-psychiatry programs. Any individual who has a Trinity Health Medical Group provider has access to see a therapist at any location."
For McCarthy, finding another care provider is easier said than done.
"They haven't placed us," said McCarthy, "If you were to call Health West today, they're up to two months just to get an appointment."
She said she spent a long time finding a therapist that fits well, and she does not want to switch. She plans to follow her therapist as long as she can.
"Two months, I can handle, but not everybody can," said McCarthy.
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