Oceania
The Mariana Islands
The Newsletter recently received a note from Laura L. Post, M.D., describing mental health services in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. overseas possession of 14 Pacific islands. Dr. Post was until recently chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the hospital in Saipan and also Medical Director of the Division of Mental Health.
Dr. Post writes:
In a U.S. overseas possession that has been in existence for only a few decades, we have worked hard to set up a modern 70-bed hospital (Commonwealth Health Center) that is now twelve years old, and a Division of Mental Health and Social Services (DMHSS) that has been in existence for nearly five years. To the 60,000 inhabitants of the fourteen islands in our Commonwealth we offer outpatient counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups; consultation to clinics and other hospital wards; more intensive services for residents of the ten-bed inpatient unit; crisis intervention and assertive outreach to members of the community in need; and a plethora of other services to parallel government agencies that work with children, prisoners and disabled individuals. We are proud that the majority of people working in our mental health sector are local people, because this allows us to provide the most culturally-appropriate treatments to our Chamorro, Carolinian, Micronesian, Filipino, and Asian clients. We have two psychiatrists, two psychologists and a host of therapists who collaborate effectively with limited resources to provide a broad spectrum of care to our regional population.