Virus-killing Robot Works At New Brandywine Hospital Site

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Brandwine Hospital is innovating ways to make behavioral health treatment readily accessible during the pandemic, and their efforts include a virus-killing robot that uses ultraviolet energy to sanitize.

It's only one of the ways the healthcare provider is staying on top of community needs. Brandywine Hospital-Tower Health offers comprehensive behavioral health services in a safe and clean environment at its campus in Caln Township, at a time when many people and their loved ones are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Now, more than ever, many people are in need of behavioral health services," said Brandywine Hospital Interim CEO Vik Acharya. "The Brandywine Behavioral Health team is here for our community and willing to help individuals with any challenges they may be facing during these difficult times."

The virus-killing robot is one of the more exciting innovations. Brandywine Hospital uses the robot in operating rooms, the Emergency Department, Behavioral Health Pavilion, and other patient areas.

The provider is working to make sure those in need of inpatient services at Brandywine Behavioral Health experience care in a clean and safe setting. Several safety protocols have been implemented in response to the coronavirus pandemic, including enhanced social distancing in patient care areas, rigorous cleaning and disinfecting procedures, COVID-19 screenings for caregivers and patients, and face mask requirements for patients and staff.

Brandywine Behavioral Health offers a broad range of services, including a 64-bed, acute care inpatient facility that provides three distinct programs: Older Adult, General Adult and Eating Disorders.

The Behavioral Health staff, available 24 hours a day, every day, also diagnoses and treats those with anxiety/panic, bipolar disorder, depression, impulsive behaviors, thought disturbances, and suicidal thoughts.

"Brandywine Behavioral Health believes recovery is possible for every person dealing with a psychiatric diagnosis," said Wei Du, MD, Chair of Psychiatry at Brandywine Hospital and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine.

When a person is experiencing a mental health problem, he or she can access help by receiving an evaluation by a dedicated behavioral health admissions team located within the Brandywine Hospital Emergency Department. Based on this assessment, the behavioral health team will assist the patient in accessing appropriate and necessary services.

Additionally, Brandywine Hospital now has an outpatient behavioral health provider on its campus. Human Services, Inc., a private, nonprofit community mental health center, operates a satellite office in Brandywine Hospital's Huston Center.

More about Brandywine Behavioral Health can be found here.

Brandywine Hospital is a non-profit, 171-bed acute-care hospital with private rooms that has been providing care in the community for more than 100 years.