Advancing is a Harsha Behavioral Center value.

Over the past 18 months, innovation, science and technology have become increasingly important, especially in the healthcare and mental health industries.

Advancing this past year has meant furthering the conversation around mental health and the resources in place for citizens.

This past year has held many opportunities for Harsha to be a part of conversations around the ever-changing mental health needs of our time and around community activism. In February, Harsha participated in a roundtable discussion with regional and state leaders, including Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch, to discuss Hoosiers’ mental well-being and how to address and tend to such needs.

Throughout the 2021 legislative session, Harsha Behavioral Center also heavily advocated for House Bill 1468 in which student ID cards would be required to include the national crisis hotline number for sixth through 12th grades for school corporations that issue ID cards. The legislation ultimately passed and will become effective by the start of the 2022-23 school year. The added resource aims to ensure students have access to resources outside of the school property and past school hours.

Harsha also took part in “Recover: A Community Conversation Event” hosted by the Wabash Valley Recovery Alliance. The discussion was dedicated to bringing awareness and hope to addiction. In April, Harsha hosted a “pinwheel planting” alongside the Children’s Bureau and the Prevent Child Abuse Committee in support of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

“It’s our responsibility to find ways in which we can advance the conversations around mental health,” states Roopam Harshawat, CEO of Harsha Behavioral Center. “These conversations are the catalyst to finding more resources, breaking down the stigma of mental health and ensuring our Hoosiers know help is available. The more we advance mental health conversations, the more we can enhance our mental well-being.”

Harsha Behavioral Center is a freestanding acute care hospital located in south Terre Haute. The facility has 81 beds to provide inpatient services to individuals needing 24-hour intensive psychiatric care and serves patients of all ages — from children as young as three to geriatric patients. Specializing in behavioral health, autism, substance abuse and severe psychiatric cases, Harsha serves patients from across the state of Indiana.

— This article was provided to the Tribune-Star by Harsha Behavioral Center.