West Park Behavioral Health Review
West Park Behavioral Health is a branch of the larger West Park Hospital in Cody, Wyoming, a facility working in conjunction with the nonprofit Planetree to create an environment of patient centered care. For 10 years, West Park Hospital has been a source of traditional healthcare as well as behavioral health services for people with mental health and substance abuse issues. It supports the notion that addiction is a brain disease that can be mediated though a combination of the appropriate treatment, behavioral therapy and sometimes medication.
Accommodations and Food
The main hospital and Cedar Mountain Center are sandwiched between Yellowstone National Park and Bighorn National Forest. Outpatient services for adults and adolescents are offered from the hospital five days a week. The inpatient program is housed at West Park’s Cedar Mountain Center, a mere mile-and-a-half away from the hospital.
The residential facility looks like a mountain lodge in burnished red. The decor inside is also lodge-like, from the wood floors to the stone mantelpiece in the sitting room. Eighteen clients share bedrooms and bathrooms and some light chores. Three nutritious (and delicious looking) meals are provided for clients at Cedar Mountain Center, just like they are at the hospital. While clients aren’t responsible for meal prep, they are expected to do their own laundry, paying for the privilege in a coin laundry room onsite.
Cedar Mountain Center on Sheridan Avenue, across the street from a network of museums and restaurants. Just south is West Park Hospital itself, which is standard in its layout, but prides itself on being more comfortable and welcoming than most hospitals. Part of the Planetree philosophy of patient care is providing a nurturing environment. Local art adorns the walls and there’s an in-house spa open to clients, their families and staff. Music plays in the cafeteria and on top of offering coffee and tea in the dining room; there are two cafes and a coffee shop.
Treatment and Staff
Clients who need a medically managed detox undergo three to seven days of treatment at West Park Hospital’s main facility before checking into the residence at the Cedar Mountain Center. Length of stay varies by individual, but most clients are there for around 30 days. This is something of a boutique facility; there are less than 20 clients and the staff-to-client ratio is low. Clients at Cedar Mountain Center are given the same tools that most recovering addicts are: education about their disease, an introduction to 12-step philosophy, one-on-one counseling to process past trauma and group therapy to discuss fear, learned unhealthy behaviors and how to live sober. Co-occurring disorders are treated simultaneously here so patients may meet with a psychiatrist for an evaluation and begin taking medication.
Of course it would be crazy if a treatment facility on the edge of Yellowstone National Park didn’t offer nature therapy. Clients take weekly off-site field trips to scenic locations. Also, three times a week they go to a local fitness center with aerobic machines and weights.
Family is an important component of recovery; clients work with counselors to better their family systems; for family therapy, West Park uses the Minnesota Model and Reality Therapy. Other outside contact is somewhat limited: clients can make long-distance calls only on Saturdays, unless a counselor approves an additional call time.
West Park offers its outpatient program at the main hospital. The doors are open Monday through Friday during normal business hours and on Friday mornings for gender-specific groups and one-on-one therapy. West Park uses CBT, biofeedback and EMDR to help clients process trauma and rewire emotionally. Mindfulness practices like meditation are taught to reinforce the forging of a new life.
An additional structured family program is available to all substance abuse clients. Over a three-day weekend, families have the chance to interact with each other at West Park Hospital, getting addiction education and personal counseling.
Extras
As mentioned above, clients have access to a local fitness center, the hospital spa (steam room, whirlpool and massage therapy) for an added fee, nature therapy, EMDR and guided mediation at West Park Behavioral Health.
In Summary
West Park is a state-funded hospital, meaning that clients who don’t have insurance might still qualify for a state bed and receive treatment at no cost. The hospital will also offer uninsured clients outpatient treatment at a sliding fee. The benefits of treatment at a major hospital are its resources and relative flexibility around financial issues. The drawback of receiving care at a hospital as opposed to a smaller, private program is the potentially impersonal touch; however, this might not be an issue for Cedar Mountain clients, who are sequestered in the recovery lodge with a low staff-to-client ratio.
West Park Behavioral Health Location
424 Yellowstone Ave
Cody, WY 82414
Cedar Mountain Center
707 Sheridan Ave
Cody, WY 82414
West Park Behavioral Health Cost
Sliding scale. Reach West Park Behavioral Health by phone at (307) 578-2919. Find West Park Behavioral Health on Facebook and Google+
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