May 29, 2020

High Plains to resume in-person client appointments

Posted May 29, 2020 10:55 AM

HPMH

High Plains Mental Health Center is pleased to announce in-person client services will resume on June 1.

This will be effective at the Hays main office and full-time branch offices in Colby, Goodland, Norton, Osborne and Phillipsburg.

Community based support services will also resume in-person appointments.

To schedule an appointment or find the service location closest to you, call us at (800) 432-0333.

Community Outreach Offices will resume in-person care when community hosts are ready for our staff to return. Clients are encouraged to contact High Plains to learn when in-person care is expected to resume at their Community Outreach Office.

Most services have been provided by telehealth since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements. Telehealth services will continue to be available for clients who prefer to access services from the comfort of home. Services are available by telephone or Zoom video conference.

As we transition to more in-person appointments, several health and safety precautions will be taken.

- Staff will ensure adequate social distancing in waiting rooms and staff offices.

- Clients are asked to bring only one guest to each appointment, unless more are needed as part of the service (such as family or group therapy services).

- Clients will be asked a series of screening questions when they check in and will have their temperature taken by a forehead scanning thermometer.

- Established clients are asked to arrive no more than five minutes before their scheduled appointment time. New clients are asked to arrive 30 minutes early for paperwork completion.

- Staff and clients are encouraged to wear a face covering, and clients will be offered a mask when they check in.

- Hand sanitizer will be available.

Our Homeward Bound respite home services also will resume June 1, contingent upon the availability of no-touch thermometers for our resource families.

The Schwaller Crisis Center in Hays has continued to be open and accepting clients, who do not have to be active patients of High Plains Mental Health Center.

Psychosocial support groups also will resume with additional social distancing protocols and reduced group sizes.

High Plains Mental Health Center is a licensed community mental health center dedicated to the aggressive pursuit of providing a comprehensive mental health program to the residents of Northwest Kansas.

Embodied in this pursuit are fundamental principles of establishing quality services as close to home as possible, at an affordable fee, and delivered in the least disruptive manner available.

Such services will offer a continuum of care so that treatment can be individualized, and our staff can respond quickly and compassionately to those reaching out to us.