Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines announced today it has received approval to begin training of psychiatric residency physicians in July 2018. Following a site review visit earlier this year, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education approved a three-year accreditation for the Iowa Medical Education Collaborative Psychiatry Residency Program at Mercy-Des Moines.
Mercy first announced plans for the residency program in March and has received a $1.5 million Iowa Department of Health grant to help fund the program. In March 2014, Mercy closed down much of its outpatient psychiatric services due primarily to a psychiatrist shortage.
Currently, the state's only psychiatric residency program is at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
"This program will help us address a growing public health crisis and the shortage of providers taking care of mental health in the state of Iowa," said Dr. Tommy Ibrahim, Mercy chief physician officer and vice president of medical affairs. "We are especially thankful for the state's willingness to fund a portion of the program. It demonstrates the state's acknowledgement of the need for behavioral health improvements."
Two other major providers of mental health services for Central Iowa, UnityPoint Health-Des Moines and Broadlawns Medical Center, also received a state grant in March to begin a joint psychiatric residency program in 2018.
The Broadlawns UnityPoint Health Psychiatry Residency Program has submitted applications for ACGME accreditation and is awaiting approval, said Dr. William Yost, program director of the University of Iowa-Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program.
Yost said the Des Moines VA Medical Center will serve as an affiliated training site in that program, and "provide excellent training opportunities for the residents as well as an opportunity to expand behavioral health services to our veterans."
"Furthermore, we anticipate that the psychiatry program will collaborate closely with our established residency programs in primary care on both campuses, thus further improving the skills of our graduates in providing compassionate and skilled behavioral health care as primary care physicians and multiplying the impact of the Psychiatry residency program," he said.
Mercy said it has started the recruitment process for four first-year students. Students will be matched and selected in the spring of 2018. The four-year program will have a total of 16 residents when all classes have been filled. Residents will receive training in inpatient care, pediatric behavioral care, neurology, emergency behavioral care, substance abuse and community health.
"This initiative represents Mercy's firm commitment to invest in mental health and establish more resources for our state," said Dr. Sasha Khosravi, Mercy psychiatry residency program director and medical director of behavioral health. "We look forward to the challenge of creating an outstanding program that produces excellent and compassionate care for a population sorely in need of more providers."