HOFH Elite Care Center Spotlight: Sheppard Pratt
As the nation’s largest private, nonprofit provider of mental health, substance use, special education, developmental disability, and social services, Sheppard Pratt offers over 160 programs across Maryland and West Virginia, serving more than 70,000 individuals annually. For over 30 years, the organization has been consistently named as one of the nation’s top 10 psychiatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Regardless of an individual's age or psychiatric needs, Sheppard Pratt offers a wide array of services through its broad continuum of care.
Sheppard Pratt specializes in providing care and services including:
● Urgent care and mobile crisis
● Outpatient therapy and medication management
● Intensive Outpatient and Partial Hospitalization
● Inpatient & Specialty Services
● Residential & Structured Day Services
● Community & Family Support
● Schools & School-Based Services
● Developmental Disability Services
● Housing & Homelessness Services
● Employment & Job Training
● Care Coordination & In-Home Services
“Sheppard Pratt has a solution for all ages and different life phases. Sometimes people need more help and sometimes they are more independent and functioning well, but still need some support,” says Dr. Deepak Prabhakar, chief of medical staff and medical director of outpatient services for Sheppard Pratt. “For example, many facilities provide outpatient care, but individuals may not know where to go if they need a higher level of care. Sheppard Pratt has a multitude of programs to give individuals and families a seamless support system regardless of where they are in their health journey.”
Sheppard Pratt’s Programs Provide a Vast Array of Levels of Care
Among the standout programs at Sheppard Pratt is Psychiatric Urgent Care, which is available at their Towson and Baltimore/Washington Campuses. The program helps people avoid trips to the emergency room by providing immediate psychiatric triage. Upon arrival, patients receive a psychiatric assessment and triage by a clinician. Once assessed, they are referred to the appropriate level of care they need—whether it be inpatient admission, a day treatment program, or outpatient care for ongoing therapy and medication management.
“Imagine that your loved one is experiencing a psychiatric emergency. Perhaps they are experiencing irrational thoughts or maybe they are considering self-harm. Where do you turn? For most people, the answer is their local hospital’s ER,” says Dr. Prabhakar. “In a hospital ER, the staff has the broad task of catering to all medical emergencies and also to individuals in non-urgent situations. The waiting rooms can be hectic, bright, loud, and crowded, which can overwhelm an individual in psychiatric distress. Our Psychiatric Urgent Care is a friendlier setting for someone going through a crisis.”
“Before I came to Sheppard Pratt, I felt completely helpless,” says Sam, a former patient who shared his testimonial with Sheppard Pratt. “Sheppard Pratt helped me realize that there are options for me. Before, I felt like the only option for me was to take my own life. But now, I have hope. Depression is something that people struggle with silently. That’s one of the hardest parts about it. My time at Sheppard Pratt meant that I could lift that weight and I didn’t have to struggle alone anymore. That’s all I could ask for.”
Another notable Sheppard Pratt program, called The Retreat, is geared toward individuals including professionals going through acute psychiatric episodes that need specific care. The residential program serves adults who are experiencing behavioral health issues, including depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. These individuals are often at a crossroads or experiencing life-changing events. Building on the success of The Retreat, Sheppard Pratt recently opened LifeLaunch, a similar program serving adolescents.
“At Sheppard Pratt, they don’t give up on you,” says Alvin, a former patient who recently shared his testimonial with Sheppard Pratt. “Some of my other programs got tired of me after a while. But here, they are with me every step of the way.”
Breaking the Stigma by Cultivating Joy
In providing services to residents across Maryland and the nation, one of the populations that Sheppard Pratt serves is athletes, either at the professional or student level. Whether psychiatric care is patient-driven, family-driven, or athletic department-driven, the experts in the various programs at the organization are equipped to serve the unique needs of athletes.
“Elite athletes face team peer pressure, the stress of meeting intense expectations, compounded by a hyper-structured schedule that leaves little time for rest and reflection. The intensity of an elite athlete’s daily life can leave them feeling depleted. Left unmitigated, these conditions put athletes at a higher risk for stress, which makes them more likely to experience depression and anxiety or, even more alarming, suicidal thoughts,” says Dr. Prabhakar.
In furthering its goal of serving athletes even after their playing days are over, Sheppard Pratt has joined Hall of Fame Health as an Elite Care Center. Dr. Prabhakar is hopeful that by breaking the stigma around getting help for psychiatric disorders, athletes and
their supporters will accept that no one is superhuman. Anyone can experience depression, anxiety, or a myriad of psychiatric symptoms, and they can be managed with the right and timely help. Furthermore, Dr. Prabhakar believes that joy (i.e., love of playing the game), not performance, is a difference-maker in an individual athlete’s success.
“The key driver should still be joy regardless of the level of participation in sports or stage of life,” adds Dr. Prabhakar. “I believe that as time goes on, the joy an athlete derives from participation in sports is a key factor contributing to long-term success and individual outcomes.”
“Sheppard Pratt’s wealth of programs is truly exceptional and commendable,” says Ryan Cain, President of the behavioral health program for Hall of Fame Health. “We look forward to working together to serve many more individuals by offering a solution with different levels of care under one organization.”
The HOFH Elite Care Centers is a network of elite facilities across the country that specialize in mental health and substance use disorders. Each treatment center is vetted and accredited to provide high-quality, customized care to former players and their families, veterans, and beyond. Financial aid options are available through Fund Recovery, which serves athletes, veterans, their families, and others seeking assistance for mental health or addiction issues.
For more information on Sheppard Pratt, please visit https://www.hofhealth.com/elite-care-centers or call the HOFH concierge line at 866-404-HOFH.