Warner visits Loudoun to support development of mental health center

By Valerie Cury

On March 25, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) held a day of meetings in Northern Virginia. His day started in McLean at the grand opening of MITRE’s AI Assurance & Discovery Lab. Among other things, the lab will help mitigate risks to AI-enabled systems. It will provide state-of-the-art capabilities to support teams as they implement AI-enabled systems in high-stakes environments.

In the early afternoon, Warner, along with Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), delivered a check for $4,116,000 to go toward the development of a 24/7 Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Center in Leesburg on Meadowview Court. This center will provide a safe place for urgent treatment for members of the community who are experiencing mental health crises. The facility will provide urgent psychiatric care, 16 recliners with up to 23 hours of treatment, and 10 short-term stays with up to 14 days of treatment.

The $4 million federal funding received for Loudoun’s Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Center was secured by Warner as part of the partial government funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2024 which passed in early March. There is a 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline that is currently in operation in Northern Virginia and this has led to a broader need for crisis treatment.

Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large), a substance abuse therapist, was in attendance along with other mental health professionals and health care leaders: Dr. Christopher Chiantella, Chief Medical Officer, Inova Loudoun Hospital; Jamie Rice LPC, NCC Aram Wellness Group; Dr. Ramina Gupta, Medical Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders; Dr Carol Currier, Medical Director, The Williams Center; Rebecca Kiessling, Executive Director, NAMI Northern Virginia; Dr Bridgett Whitehead, Program Director, The Williams Center; Dr. Anthony Crowley, Medical Director, Loudoun Medical Group; Dr Linda Lang, President, Behavioral Health Services Inova.

Dr. Linda Lang, President of Behavioral Health Services for Inova, said that telehealth is vital and “we are worrying that it might go away.” She said it has been a key element, and that they use telehealth to serve “11 emergency departments for all five of our hospitals.” 

Lang said her department is working on a residency for psychiatry in a year or so. Being able to offer training for learners will open up the pipeline for young new psychiatrists. She said more medical students are interested in psychiatry now than ever. They are getting medical students coming from UVA in this field, she said.

She said her department is removing the barriers for stigmatizing language for health care workers, and they are removing barriers in the application process for credentialing. When a physician or nurse has questions on forms asking “have you ever received care for a mental health disorder” – when they apply to work in a hospital, this prevents people from receiving care and is stigmatizing, said Lang.

Dr. Ramia Gupta, medical director for Loudoun County’s Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse & Developmental Services, said the Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Center is going to be a viable and alternative solution for patients requiring mental health crisis treatment which will include “substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, psychosis, and the whole gamut.” Gupta said, “The crisis receiving center will address the needs of our patients and their families.” It will include walk ins, ambulances, patient and police drop offs. All operations and psychiatric care will be under one roof, she said.

Dr. Carol Currier with the Williams Center for Wellness and Recovery said that when some students feel depressed, they are offered drugs and think they are safe – and it can quickly upend their future. Some students can have a psychotic break using marijuana as it is a lot stronger, she said.

Chair Randall said, “We don’t talk about the disease of abuse dependence. Imagine that we’re talking about an eating disorder, and we talked about the cake, or a pie. Well wouldn’t that be ridiculous in substance abuse? But we do that and substance abuse – we don’t talk about substance abuse disorder. So, these discussions will start making us – one, destigmatize things, two, start talking about things in a holistic view and three, realize that mental health is health, emotional health physical health, and spiritual health. It’s all just health.”

Warner said, “I don’t know any family pre and post COVID that doesn’t have some mental health issues in their family, so this is something that touches all of us.”

Warner’s next stop that day was a visit to Middleburg’s new town hall. This was a project supported in part by federal funding secured by Warner. He met with elected leaders and answered questions from community members. Supervisor Laura TeKrony (D-Little River), Leesburg Mayor Kelly Burk, Hillsboro Mayor Roger Vance and Lovettsville Mayor Chris Hornbaker were all in attendance.