Carle Clinic and Provena Covenant Arrange to Spread Psychiatric Services Around

Two Carle Clinic psychiatrists are now seeing patients at Provena Covenant Medical Center, in a collaboration that the two health care providers say marks an expansion of adult psychiatric services in Champaign-Urbana.

Carle Clinic spokesman Sean Williams says Drs. Timothy Roberts and James Whisenand are moving to Provena Covenant from the Pavilion psychiatric hospital in Champaign.

"Provena did have psychiatric services", explains Williams. "They only had one full-time doctor, Dr. (Feiteng) Su, who oversaw the care plans for patients. So, adding Drs. Roberts and Whisenand to the Provena staff will help them be able to expand supervision of care of patients."

Provena Covenant Vice-President Bob Sarkar says there are certain advantages to receiving psychiatric treatment in a full-service hospital.

"We have a comprehensive program with ready access to clinical support services", says Sarkar, "like dietitians, physical therapists, etc. So, when a patient needs to be admitted to any acute care setting --- if there is a complication --- we do not have to transfer the patients across town, but transfer the patient to another floor."

Williams says the Pavilion can afford to lose Roberts and Whisenand, because it now has its own in-house psychiatrist, who works alongside four other Carle Clinic psychiatrists.

Now that they're at Provena Covenant, Doctors Roberts and Whisenhand will continue to accept all insurance plans currently accepted by Carle Clinic. And they can also be covered by Medicaid, which was not possible at the Pavilion.