HEALTHCARE
Lakeview, HCA Florida West Grow Pensacola’s Own Psychiatric Pipeline
Pensacola has talked about its mental health worker shortage for years. Now there’s a homegrown fix in progress that’s starting to show results.
Jeff Fletcher, outpatient services director at Lakeview Center, joined Rick Outzen on Rick’s Blog Live to talk about the psychiatric residency partnership Lakeview has built with HCA Florida West.
- The pilot began a few years ago, and it’s now producing real numbers: sixteen residents currently in the pipeline, with the first cohort of eight set to finish their training in two years.
“Over 50% of the providers will practice their career within a hundred miles of where they train. So if we can train them here, hopefully they’ll stay local and stay here.”—Jeff Fletcher
How the pipeline works: Residents spend their first year entirely inpatient at the HCA Florida West Hospital. In year two, they rotate over to Lakeview for outpatient care, crisis unit work, and short-term residential treatment, in 30-to-60-day stretches. HCA brings on eight new residents every year, so once the program matures, Lakeview will have residents moving through continuously.
What residents see at Lakeview that they don’t get at the hospital:
- Full outpatient psychiatric evaluations and follow-up visits
- Continuity of care across the community, not just inpatient stays
- Crisis intervention and short-term residential treatment
- Everything from a first-time evaluation to a routine medication refill
