OAHHS Spring Summer 2019

6 » A magazine for and about Oregon Community Hospitals. Something was wrong. He followed the thumping noise to his son’s room, where he found 15-year-old Erik bumping into the door jamb over and over. He had taken an entire bottle of Benadryl plus some anti-depressants and cough medicine. Erik survived, but his parents were terrified and struggling to understand what was happening. “He couldn’t tell us why,” said Ellefson. That began a frustrating journey deep into Oregon’s system of mental health care for Erik and the Ellefson family. Erik thrived in school and sports until he was 14, when his father said his son’s behavior “did a full 180, and we didn’t see it coming.” After the near overdose, Erik’s girlfriend revealed that he had expressed suicidal thoughts. Erik was diagnosed with anxiety and severe PTSD, which his father attributes in part to difficult times in the family during Garth’s recovery from a head injury. “His perfect life was turned on its ear,” said Garth. “In retrospect it all makes sense. But in the moment, it didn’t compute.” Erik’s case illustrates a harsh reality: even with a caring family, a good support system, and a nearby hospital (St. Charles Bend), there is not a clear treatment path forward for Erik and other patients moving in and out of mental health crises. That’s especially true for young patients. “We have a nationwide shortage of pediatric psychiatric care,” said Michelle Brenholdt, Director of Emergency Services at St. Charles’ hospitals in Bend and Redmond. Brenholdt is an expert in this area, and not by choice. She knows Erik Ellefson’s story is a common one. When the teen has been in a mental health crisis, his parents take him to the emergency department until his condition stabilizes. It’s a safe environment, but all agree that it’s not a therapeutic one. By Dave Northfield ED BOARDING A STRUGGLE FOR PATIENTS, HOSPITAL STAFF One family’s story of pain and frustration It was 3am one early morning in March of 2016. Parent’s intuition made Garth Ellefson bolt upright in bed.