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Introduction, Networking in Seattle/PNW Region, COVID-19

By Cynthia Morales posted 04-13-2020 03:01 PM

  
Hello to all counseling students, trainees and professionals! I write this post as an introduction to the ACA community at large, and in the hopes of connecting with other professionals local to me. I'm a licensed mental health counselor working and residing in Seattle, Washington. I moved to the area 3 years ago from Florida, where I studied at the University of Florida for my undergraduate studies and the University of Central Florida for my graduate studies. (I had the absolute pleasure of training under Dr. S. Kent Butler, our newly appointed ACA President!). Back in Florida, I acquired experiences across a variety of settings, including residential and outpatient settings, as well as private practice. I currently hold an inactive license in Florida, just in case my future trajectory ever takes me back there.

Right now, I work for a non-profit organization, called Washington Physicians Health Program (WPHP). We have a contract with the Washington state Department of Health to provide services to a select population of recipients, which includes medical professionals across the following disciplines of healthcare: allopathic and oesteopathic physicians (including Physician Assistants); dentists; veterinarians; podiatrists. We provide services across all levels of training as well, including students and residents studying to enter their respective disciplines. WPHP is tasked with the twofold mission to promote public safety while supporting physicians who have a range of impairing medical conditions. Our staff consists of a team of clinicians, including Substance Use Disorder Professionals (known as SUDPs here in Washington), psychiatrists, and mental health therapists. We do not provide treatment services, and instead focus solely on assessment and evaluation, while referring out to local and nation-wide treatment providers.

Each state has a Physician Health Program (PHP), with the exception of a few, and each is structured/operates in different ways. What makes WPHP different from some programs is that we operate, to some extent, independently of our state's disciplinary authorities, or those entities responsible for the licensing of healthcare professionals and enforcing of those legal mandates that protect healthcare professions. What that means is that we are what we dub ourselves as a "safe haven" for medical professionals who are struggling with medical conditions. Before we came into existence during the 1980s, medical professionals were concerned about coming forward about medical issues limiting their practice or posing a safety risk to their patients. They were afraid of punitive action by their medical board or other disciplinary authority. Instead of getting the help they needed, they compensated, and in some instances, they compensated until they hit a breaking point, at times at the expense of patient care. Ultimately, they were known by their medical boards anyway, as a result of negligence.

As you might imagine, the work my colleagues and I engage in is perhaps more relevant than ever before, considering the global pandemic confronting our healthcare workers, caused by COVID-19. Our mission is on a small scale with wide-reaching consequences, and we continue to learn more every day about the impact that the pandemic creates for our physicians and healthcare. We are to many people little-known, and now we are doubling our efforts to bring exposure to our cause. Every state with a PHP needs mental health professionals now more than ever to collaborate with them to provide high quality services to our medical frontlines. I encourage every one in practice with the appropriate skill and expertise to look at https://www.fsphp.org/ to learn if your state has a PHP, and reach out to them to be added to their databases.

WPHP would like to expand its database of mental health providers in Washington state. If you are local and would like to reach out to me, I welcome you to message me. We are in need of finding providers in more remote areas of Washington who can provide services to our medical professionals further away from resources. 

In general, I hope to network more with clinicians local to my city/county/state/region. Because I'm neither in practice nor in research, I find myself in a no-man's land, eager to re-connect with individuals falling under one or both umbrellas, or perhaps also sharing the no-man's land of evaluation and assessment. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to producing more content specific to healthcare professionals, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on these warriors at the front lines during these challenging times.
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