UAMS opens inpatient unit for women's psychiatric care

— The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock is opening an inpatient psychiatric unit exclusively for women.

According to a release from the hospital, the women's unit at the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute will treat women with severe mental health needs as well as those that have experienced or are experiencing issues with trauma, depression and anxiety.

The unit, which is scheduled to open March 8, will also include a 10-bed unit for the treatment of women who are pregnant or have recently given birth.

“Since our women’s mental health program opened last year with patients from all over Arkansas and around the nation, we have made great strides toward helping women overcome some overwhelming problems,” Dr. G. Richard Smith, director of the Psychiatric Research Institute and chairman of the UAMS Department of Psychiatry, said in the release.

Smith said the new women's unit "will allow us to better serve these patients and others in a comfortable, safe, and attractive environment where our staff and physicians all specialize in the treatment of women."

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