Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP)

Harborview Medical Center has committed two million dollars over the next five years to fund a research and training center whose primary mission is to improve the quality and coordination of care for disadvantaged patients with mental illness and the co-morbid conditions of addictions and chronic medical illness.

For more about CHAMMP, visit our web site at: www.chammp.org

Harborview’s board of trustees designated its Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP), as this new Center of Emphasis. Dr. Peter Roy-Byrne, center director, is chief of psychiatry at Harborview and professor and vice-chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. CHAMMP serves as an "incubator" for innovative pilot research programs designed to address the current shortcomings and disparities in health outcomes for medically vulnerable populations. 

The Origins of the Center

The lack of a statewide system to track mentally ill, chemically dependent and medically vulnerable patients, many of whom have problems in all three areas, is a great disservice to our community. These patients migrate back and forth between multiple, disconnected systems of care including psychiatric inpatient units, emergency rooms, community health clinics, jails, the state psychiatric hospital, other medical hospitals and substance abuse centers.

To compound problems, Washington state has very limited funds for psychiatric problems, with only the most severely mentally ill, typically those with schizophrenia, bipolar illness, severe depressions, and chronic risk of suicide, qualifying for care. People with mood and anxiety disorders, who suffer less than total and chronic disability, are left out of the system. In many cases, they are members of the working poor who are not eligible for mental health specialty care. Many also have substance use problems and medical illness. As a result, avoidable impairment and disability characterizes many patients in these groups.

Harborview’s board of trustees recognizes that a coordinated system of care and innovative approaches to treatment are needed for these patients who not only fall through the cracks but also put an avoidable burden on both county and state resources. However, there is currently little understanding or data about these problems that may guide the development of new policies and programs.  CHAMMP's purpose is to fill this void.

CHAMMP FACULTY

(Based at Harborview Medical Center)

Director
Peter Roy-Byrne, MD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Associate Director
Toni Krupski, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Methods Core Director
Jutta Joesch, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Investigators

• David Avery, MD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Lucy Berliner, LICSW - School of Social Work, Center for Sexual Assault & Traumatic Stress
• Dedra Buchwald, MD - Medicine, General Internal Medicine
• Paul Ciechanowski, MD, MPH - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Naomi S. Chaytor, PhD - Neurology, Regional Epilepsy Center
• Lisa Chew, MD, MPH - Medicine, General Internal Medicine
• Kate Comtois, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Heidi Crane, MD, MPH - Medicine, Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH - Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical
• Christopher Dunn, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Jordan Firestone, MD, PhD, MPH - Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Occupational And Environmental Medicine and Neurology
• Cynthia Gries, MD - Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical
• Robert Harrington, MD - Medicine, Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Stephen C. Hunt, MD, MPH - Medicine, General Internal Medicine, Occupational And Environmental Medicine
• Daniel Lessler, MD, MHA - Medicine, General Internal Medicine
• James LoGerfo, MD, MPH - Medicine, General Internal Medicine
• Barbara McCann, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Michael McDonell, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Joseph Merrill, MD, MPH - Medicine, General Internal Medicine
• John Miller, MD, PhD - Neurology, Regional Epilepsy Center
• Jagoda Pasic, MD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Elizabeth Phelan, MD, MS - Medicine, Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
• Richard Ries, MD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Jeanne Sears, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Mark Snowden, MD, MPH - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Debra Srebnik, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Eric Strachan, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Alexander Thompson, MD, MBA - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Karina Uldall, MD, MPH - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Doug Zatzick, MD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

CHAMMP COLLABORATORS

(Based outside of Harborview Medical Center)

• Meg Cristofalo, MSW, MPA - School of Social Work
• Dennis Donovan, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Sharon Estee, PhD - Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Research and Data Analysis Division
• Maria Monroe-De Vita, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research and Training (Western Branch)
• John Roll, PhD - Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research & Training (Eastern Branch), Washington State University
• Eric Trupin, PhD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research and Training (Western Branch)