MENTAL HEALTH
75
Treasure Coast Medical Report
A team of medical professionals
focused on your well-being
Internal & Geriatric Medicine
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House Calls available for qualified patients
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772.223.7864
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A Service of the
Council on Aging of Martin County
a 501(c)(3) Organization
Located in the
900 SE Salerno Road
Stuart, FL 34997
A Navy veteran,
Maxemow is excited
that HCA Healthcare,
the parent company for
Lawnwood Regional and
St. Lucie Medical Center,
is seeking to arrange a
working relationship
with the Department of
Veterans Affairs so local
veterans suffering from
PTSD (post-traumatic
stress disorder) will be
able to take part in this
helpful program.
“Linda has a big passion for substance abuse therapy,”
Maxemow said, “and Sandy’s husband is a first responder, a
firefighter, so she likes to work with first-responders.”
“They have all of these images burned into their brains
which make it difficult to sleep,” Alicea said of first responders
like her husband and veterans. “My role is to educate you
and help you cope with PTSD or any illness.”
“There are nurses who could benefit from IOP (intensive
outpatient program), but I also see a need for support groups,
which are different from IOPs,” Maxemow said.
“As adults, they are not getting the help they needed as
children – preventive measures,” Seraphin said. “Children
with ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), which occurs with
a lot of children suffering with ADHD (attention deficit/
hyperactivity disorder), can be taught different coping skills.
The difficulty in dealing with their lives can lead to sociopathic
behaviors in later life.”
The CARES program, though, can only serve clients between
18 and 88 years of age and cannot accept Medicare clients, due
to the requirements under the government health insurer.
This program is designed for someone who has tried on
their own to step down from inpatient level of care, Maxemow
explained, or someone who has found that one hour per week
of individual therapy is not enough to help them cope.
There is a shortage of inpatient beds in the county and
HCA is in the process of adding 12 beds to its inpatient unit
at Lawnwood. The staff at CARES said the beds are full 100
percent of the time, adding that it can take four to six months
to get an outpatient appointment in the area, and although
inpatient services are provided, there is not much help available
once they are released. The therapists at CARES work
with the patients in the medical center and are a familiar face
they see once they are released. Although not all insurance
companies will pay for the intensive outpatient programs
and some companies don’t include HCA facilities in their
network, the CARES staff will refer a client to another facility
their insurance company might accept.
“If they have a referral and need to come into the IOP,”
Alicea said, “we will call the insurance company and if they
won’t cover our services, but might cover something else, we
will call the client back and let them know.”
Ready and willing to help those who need their services,
the CARES staff stated their goal is to reduce the rate of psychiatric
hospitalizations, to educate clients as to their diagnosis
and help them learn how to manage their symptoms, and
to provide support to their loved ones.
For more information on the CARES program, call Maxemow
at 335.4000.
PETER GORMAN
Therapists Sandy Alicea and Linda Seraphin
fine-tune a game, which is similar to Jeopardy!,
created for the new outpatient therapy
program at St. Lucie Medical Center.
COMP L E T E FAM I LY E Y E C A R E
Meet the experienced and friendly doctors and staff who make C. R. Lait Optical
& L. W. Vision Care the primary provider of vision care products and services
on the Treasure Coast. Dr. Shannon Leitenbauer and Dr. Kelly Waddell have 30
years of combined experience in treating ocular diseases, prescribing premium
eye wear and contact lenses, as well as, co-managing surgical procedures. Our
licensed Opticians, Jason Wright and Bill Radford, have been helping patients
with frame and material selections for over 20 years.
Come visit our family!
Pictured left to right: Jason Wright,
Dr. Kelly Waddell, Dr. Shannon
Leitenbauer and Bill Radford.
772.465.6616 • 2305 Oleander Blvd., Fort Pierce • www.crlaitoptical.com
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