New Mental Health Center Opens at Cedars-Sinai Medical Office Towers

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- It has been several months since the formal closing of outpatient psychiatric services at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, leaving the Cedars-Sinai community with few options for mental health treatment for patients.  According to the LA Times, this decision "was driven by hospital finances and changes to the delivery and organization of healthcare services nationwide."

This gap in mental health treatment inspired psychiatrists Ellie Mizani, MD and Mark Hrymoc, MD to start the Mental Health Center at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Office Towers. Dr. Hrymoc, an addiction psychiatrist who founded the Addiction Medicine Group, and Dr. Mizani, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, devised a simple treatment model:  Spend as much time with a patient as they need. Communicate with people involved in their care, including physicians, therapists, and, with the patient's permission, family members. Be available by email. Respect patients' wishes; if they don't want to take certain medications or follow a given treatment plan, work with them to create a responsible plan that they believe in. Provide the level of detail and scientific rigor in evaluations typical of any world-class institution. "Our objective was to offer the highest quality outpatient psychiatric care to patients in the Cedars-Sinai community and Los Angeles," says Dr. Mizani.  

The only way to achieve these goals was to decline participation in insurance panels. Free of the restrictions imposed by insurance companies, the psychiatrists and therapists of the Mental Health Center can spend as much time and effort on a client's case as needed. This allows for clinical decisions to be made with the client's interests in mind rather than the interests of an insurance company. Clients who have out-of-network coverage (most PPO plans), can usually be reimbursed by their insurer.

The clinicians at the Mental Health Center are skilled in the assessment and treatment of depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, addiction, trauma and complex or treatment-refractory psychiatric conditions. A client's treatment plan can include medications, psychotherapy, or both. To learn more about the Mental Health Center, please visit their website at www.MentalHealthCtr.com or call 310-601-9999.

Contact:  
Ellie Mizani, MD
Cedars-Sinai Medical Office Towers
8631 W. 3rd St., Suite 920E, Los Angeles, CA 90048
310-601-9999

SOURCE Mental Health Center