DHS news release

Aug. 10, 2005

Contact: Jim Sellers (503) 945-5738

Program contact: Bob Nikkel (503) 945-9708

Eastern Oregon hospital's new name: Blue Mountain Recovery Center

Eastern Oregon Psychiatric Center, which has won national attention for using a research-based "recovery model," is taking patients' advice to change its name to Blue Mountain Recovery Center.

The name change at the state-run 60-bed psychiatric hospital in Pendleton was recommended by patients through their consumer advisory board and embraced by staff.

"The new name will do a far better job of telling patients, staff and the public who we are and what we do," said Bob Nikkel, mental health and addictions administrator for the Oregon Department of Human Services. "This is only one example of the good ideas we've adopted from patients, which is evidence of the positive things happening there."

Changing the hospital's name, effective Sept. 1, does not require legislative approval.

Creation of the consumer advisory board itself, which meets weekly at a Pendleton coffee shop, is part of the change the hospital has made to help patients move from the hospital to the community.

Among the hospital's innovations are adoption of recovery-oriented treatment techniques researched by UCLA; hiring of a former patient as a consumer advocate who also assists with community re-entry; liberalized phone and Internet privileges so patients can maintain contact with family and other supporters; and a "welcome packet" that orients patients when they are first admitted.

"Hospital staff deserve special recognition for how they have implemented the vision of patient recovery," Nikkel said, led the past several years by Superintendent Maxine Stone and Chief Medical Officer Satya Chandragiri, M.D. Nikkel said hospital officials have been asked to speak about their recovery-oriented work at national conferences, and also have been asked for information by officials from other states.

The Pendleton hospital is designed to serve predominantly Eastern Oregon patients. The hospital accepts a limited number of acute-care admissions from patients statewide, and takes admissions from counties outside Eastern Oregon when no bed is available at Oregon State Hospital, which has campuses in Salem and Portland.

Blue Mountain Recovery Center is located at 2600 Westgate, adjacent to Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton.