The Motion Picture and Television Fund, the 90-year-old charity supporting members of Hollywood's entertainment industry, today announced a first-of-its-kind affiliation with the UCLA Health and UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital to establish a geriatric psychiatry unit at the MPTF's Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, Calif.
The unit, co-branded by the MPTF and UCLA, will provide inpatient and outpatient services to individuals 55 years and older with emotional or behavioral disorders. It will accommodate up to 12 patients and is anticipated to be fully operational, pending regulatory approvals, by the first quarter of 2013.
"This historic linkage with the UCLA Health is another key piece in the larger strategy we have developed for our organization," said the MPTF's CEO Bob Beitcher. "Among our many goals, we are focused on building a health care campus capable of delivering a broad set of services to our industry members and, selectively, to the San Fernando Valley community."
"UCLA feels privileged to contribute its world-class geriatric expertise to MPTF's storied campus," said Dr. David Feinberg, president of the UCLA Health. "UCLA has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the entertainment community, and this new affiliation will be a welcome extension of that."
The new unit's medical director will hold a faculty position at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and will participate in the academic and research activities of the university. The MPTF will provide the unit's clinical caregivers, and MPTF medical staff will collaborate with UCLA at the Wasserman Campus to integrate the practices of geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry for industry members. In connection with the MPTF's social services program, there will also be a focus on the impact of psychiatric illness on caregivers and families.
"UCLA's Department of Psychiatry is very pleased to be part of this extraordinary affiliation with MPTF," said Dr. Thomas Strouse, director of the Resnick Neuropsychiatirc Hospital. "We will be bringing specialized faculty and our state-of-the-art geriatric psychiatry treatment program to the MPTF facility in Woodland Hills, and we look forward to a creative alliance that will also encompass wellness, prevention, and health-maintenance clinical research activities," Strouse added.
The MPTF will make this new service available on a preferential basis to entertainment industry members, as well as to the community. The organization's previously announced 40-bed long-term care unit and Harry's Haven, its 30-bed dementia care unit, will remain exclusive to members of the entertainment community.
"The MPTF board is committed to management's new health care roadmap, and we could not have a higher regard for Dr. David Feinberg, Dr. Gary Small, Dr. Thomas Strouse and the UCLA geriatric psychiatry program," said Casey Wasserman, an MPTF board member. "UCLA and this team represent the best possible partner for MPTF as it moves into this new service."
The Motion Picture and Television Fund has served for 90 years as a beacon of hope for entertainment industry members in their time of need. As a charitable organization, the MPTF provides financial assistance and services essential to the well-being of the community and is a leader in the development and implementation of services and programs for seniors and those who care for them. The charity is supported by the generosity of corporate donors and fellow entertainment industry members who contribute their time and money, knowing if they were ever in a tight spot, the MPTF would be there for them too.
The UCLA Health, which comprises the UCLA Hospital System and the UCLA Medical Group and its affiliates, has provided the best in health care and the most advanced treatment options to the people of Los Angeles and the world for more than half a century. UCLA's preeminence in health care — a strength that comes from the union of research, teaching and excellence in patient care — continues to be recognized nationally, internationally and in numerous forums. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, and UCLA Medical Center–Santa Monica (which includes the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital) deliver hospital care that is unparalleled in California. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is consistently ranked one of the top five hospitals in the nation and the best in the western United States by U.S. News & World Report, and the UCLA Medical Group has been ranked among the best in Southern California for four successive years by the Integrated Healthcare Association. UCLA physicians and hospitals will continue to be world leaders in the full range of care, from maintaining the health of families to the diagnosis and treatment of complex illnesses.
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