WENTZVILLE, Mo. – It’s a groundbreaking program changing lives of people who battle chronic mental illness and addictions. The L.A.I. (Long Acting Injectable) clinic is designed to help people with chronic mental struggles and addictions comply with the medical prescriptions needed to treat their symptoms.
Traditional prescriptions can mean taking a schedule of oral medications to combat mental illness or substance abuse. SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital in Wentzville offers the L.A.I. clinic as part of its outpatient program, which provides patients with a more convenient solution for medication support.
Dr. Shinivas Battula is the psychiatrist and manager of behavioral health who says, “A long-acting injection would work for almost a month, and they don’t have to be taking the medications on a daily basis.”
Patients receive a comprehensive team of care, including meeting with Dr. Battula, a pharmacist and a nurse, and if needed, a therapist is in the office to meet with patients. Battula explains, “The goal is to keep them stable and out of the hospital so that way they can have quality of life and move on with their life goals.”
He says since the clinic’s inception in 2020, they’ve seen a significant decrease in the number of people relying on the Emergency Department for crisis care.
To learn more about the outpatient programs offered by SSM Health, click here.
