Illinois Board of Education Adds Three Virginia Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. Facilities

Cumberland Hospital, the Hughes Center and The Pines Residential Treatment Center welcome out-of-state special needs students through placement program

FRANKLIN, Tenn. — (May 18, 2010) — Cumberland Hospital, the Hughes Center for Exceptional Children and The Pines Residential Treatment Center in Kempsville, Va., are the newest Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. (PSI) facilities to be included on the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approval list for the placement of students at out-of-state special education facilities. As members of this list, Illinois school districts can place their severely disabled, medically complex and neurobehavioral students at either Cumberland, the Hughes Center or The Pines Kempsville Campus, full-service medical and behavioral health facilities in New Kent, Va., Danville, Va., and Portsmouth, Va., respectively.

To be included on this approval list for ISBE special education students, Cumberland, the Hughes Center and The Pines Kempsville Campus needed to meet certain eligibility requirements to verify that each facility had sufficient staff, licensure, and programs and procedures in place that are congruent with the ISBE prerequisites. These PSI facilities were logical and decidedly appealing candidates for the placement list because of their highly specialized treatment programs and ability to treat dual diagnosis students.

As part of the ISBE out-of-state placement program, Cumberland, the Hughes Center and the Pines Kempsville Campus will service the special needs of children in a unique and therapeutic setting at their on-campus co-educational schools. Cumberland Academy is equipped to educate children and adolescents living with psychological, behavioral, neurological and social challenges, while the Hughes Educational Center focuses on intimate class sizes for youth with mental retardation or with pervasive developmental disorders including autism and Asperger’s. The Pines Kempsville Campus uses multi-disciplinary teams to address serious emotional disturbances in children including social, interpersonal, education and vocational functioning. All schools are licensed to operate from the Virginia Department of Education.

“The faculty and staff at Cumberland Hospital are approaching this with the intent of helping the greater good of our neighbors, and we welcome these—and all of our students—with open arms,” said Gay Brooks, chief executive officer at Cumberland Hospital. “It is only fitting that we lend a hand and help where we can with the resources that we have available.”

Likewise, Michael Triggs, chief executive office at the Hughes Center, explained his facility’s sentiments about being selected as an out-of-state placement. Said Triggs, “It is an honor for us to be a part of this program. It recognizes that the staff at the Hughes Center is doing great things, and it reinforces that we are making a difference in the lives of young people. We are looking forward to a lasting relationship with the Illinois State Board of Education, conjunctively working for a common goal.”

“The well-being of all children is of the utmost importance to us,” said Wes Mason, chief executive officer at The Pines Residential Treatment Center. “Our staff is happy to partner with the Illinois State Board of Education to fill a great need and help children beyond the borders of Virginia.”

Cumberland, the Hughes Center and The Pines Kempsville Campus join the National Deaf Academy (NDA) as the newest PSI facilities to accept students from Illinois school districts. NDA, a Mount Dora, Fla., full-service behavioral health facility equipped with a K-12 school to address the educational, developmental and language-based needs of deaf or hard-of-hearing children and adolescents, has been accepting students through this program for the past two years. PSI hopes to add an additional five to six facilities to the placement list in the next year.

“Psychiatric Solutions is honored to be able to assist the state of Illinois in this placement program for children with special needs,” said Christina Hawkins, vice president of development at PSI. “We are pleased to be able to help disabled Illinois students and their families, and we look forward to working with Illinois educators as we move forward.”

About Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents

Cumberland Hospital provides comprehensive medical, behavioral and educational services to young people. The facility includes 94 hospital beds for patients ages 2-22, a 16-bed residential treatment center for adolescents ages 13-22 and 26 group home beds divided by gender and diagnosis for ages 12-21. Cumberland Hospital provides a cost-effective alternative to typical acute care hospital settings by offering inpatient comprehensive rehabilitation, as well as residential and community-based services to encourage optimal functional outcomes and independence. For more information, please visit www.cumberlandmediapsi.com

About The Hughes Center for Exceptional Children

The Hughes Center for Exceptional Children is a 56-bed, campus-style facility located on 60 acres in Danville, Va. The facility serves males and females 13 - 22 years of age diagnosed with intellectual disability and an Axis I diagnosis or pervasive developmental disorder/autism. The Hughes Center employs 100 staff members who represent a wide variety of clinical, educational and medical professions. The goal of the Center is to enable young men and women to be successful in their home, school and community. For more information, please visit www.hughescentermediapsi.com

About The Pines Residential Treatment Center
The Pines is a residential treatment facility offering therapeutic services to children and adolescents with psychiatric and behavioral challenges. Those services are available at three separate locations in Hampton Roads, two in Portsmouth and one in Norfolk. Licensed by the state of Virginia, The Pines serves youth ages 5-21 and employs more than 650 people including residential counselors, dietary staff, therapists, physicians and psychologists. For more information, please visit www.pinesmediapsi.com

About National Deaf Academy
National Deaf Academy is a licensed, 132-bed residential treatment facility specializing in the treatment of deaf and hard of hearing children, adolescents and adults with a wide range of psychiatric and behavioral issues. NDA also has a specialized program dedicated to autistic individuals with communication disorders. NDA is licensed by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration and fully accredited by The Joint Commission. For more information, please visit www.ndamediapsi.com

About Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. (PSI)

Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. offers an extensive continuum of behavioral health programs to critically ill children, adolescents and adults and is the largest operator of owned or leased freestanding psychiatric inpatient facilities with more than 11,000 beds in 32 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. PSI also manages freestanding psychiatric inpatient facilities for government agencies and psychiatric inpatient units within medical/surgical hospitals owned by others. For more information, please visit www.psychiatricsolutionsmedia.com

Jennifer June
(o) 615-780-3316
(c) 615-419-8000
jennifer.june@dvl.com

Kristin Hampel
(o) 615-780-3365
(c) 615-275-7926
kristin.hampel@dvl.com

209 Seventh Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37219

This release was published on openPR.