Enriching the Community’s Mental Health Needs for Thirty Years

Pictured from November 2012, Will Thomas, M.A., L.P.C., with patients in the original group therapy room located in the lower level of the B Wing of the MyMichigan Medical Center Alma.

The Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) at MyMichigan Medical Center Alma is celebrating 30 years of community service. This program started as part of a new movement in mental health care. Over the years, mental health care has changed significantly. Here’s how the current PHP program in Alma began.

Partial hospitalization programs (PHP) began emerging in the 1960s as mental health had a major transformation with the adoption of the Community Mental Health Act of 1963, which promoted community-based treatment centers as alternatives to long-term institutional care.

After the deinstitutionalization of mental health care in the U.S., professionals faced a challenge. They needed to find ways to support individuals who no longer required full-time hospitalization but still needed more than occasional outpatient therapy. The solution began to take shape in a relatively new model of care, Partial Hospitalization Programs, or PHPs.

Designed as a middle ground between inpatient and outpatient treatment, PHPs offered structured care, life skills and real-time recovery support, all while keeping individuals connected to their communities. In Michigan, with a mix of urban centers and rural communities, PHPs offered a flexible, community-oriented approach to meet diverse needs.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, PHPs expanded beyond transitional care for post-hospitalization recovery. They began offering structured therapeutic support for individuals whose needs went beyond the scope of outpatient care. This helped reduce unnecessary readmissions and improve recovery and community involvement.

In 1994, as part of a broader national trend in mental health care, Gratiot Community Hospital, as it was known, began the certificate of need and licensing process for a PHP. Sue Malone, director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine from 1994 to 2010, led this effort.

“PHPs emerged to meet the growing demand for structured, intensive mental health treatment outside traditional inpatient settings,” Malone explained. “Offering a PHP in the Gratiot community provided a crucial bridge between inpatient care and regular outpatient care.”

With the certificate of need approved and all licensure requirements passed, Alma welcomed its first patient in November 1995. Originally located in the B Wing basement of the Medical Center, the PHP featured a group therapy room, activity area, dinette and a recreation area shared with inpatient behavioral health.

Patient groups were small in the beginning, with a maximum group size of six individuals. The original program schedule remains similar to the current day program. Participants meet five days a week for six hours daily. Each day includes goal review, group therapy, education, individual therapy, a meal and evening goal setting. The 1995 care team included founding medical director Jack Stack, M.D., master licensed therapist Robert Radaz, L.M.S.W., therapy assistant Jody Tomlinson, B.A. and part-time registered nurse Becky Anderson, R.N.

“The first patients loved our PHP program,” Malone said. “We received referrals from the inpatient setting, emergency department and the local college. Patients in the inpatient behavioral health setting could spend part of their day in the PHP, helping them understand the next step in their care.”

Over the last 30 years, the PHP at MyMichigan Medical Center has moved and renovated twice. It has helped thousands with their mental health and continues to receive high praise from patients. The program's success demonstrates its value in providing accessible, effective, and recovery-oriented mental health services to the community.

Community members are invited to join the MyMichigan Medical Center Alma PHP staff at an open house on Thursday, November 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. Those interested in more information on MyMichigan’s behavioral health programs may visit mymichigan.org/mentalhealth.