UMHS to build nation's first multidisciplinary Depression Center

Updated 4:00 PM July 28, 2003

UMHS to build nation's first multidisciplinary Depression Center

By Krista Hopson
UMHS Public Relations

Nearly two years ago, the U-M Health System (UMHS) was the first in the nation to establish a comprehensive center devoted to illnesses that affect 18 million Americans every year and have been deemed by the World Health Organization as the most disabling disorders in the world—depression and bipolar disorder.

On July 17, the Board of Regents approved a $38 million building project that again will help UMHS to lead the way in expanding the treatment, research and education needed to counteract depressive illnesses in the United States.

The project will lead to construction of the nation's first Comprehensive Depression Center. The new facility also will incorporate ambulatory psychiatry and substance abuse programs. The vote authorized the selection of Detroit-based architectural firm Albert Kahn Associates for the project design.

Construction of the new state-of-the-art clinical facility will be funded in part by $12.5 million in gifts to the U-M Depression Center. Additionally, the center's researchers have submitted a federal National Institutes of Health grant request to aid funding of research components of the building project.

The three-level, 106,500-gross-square-foot clinical facility will include 54,200 square feet dedicated to outpatient research projects, 40,000 square feet for adult and child clinics and patient consult rooms and 12,300 square feet for building support. It will connect to the southwest side of the existing U-M East Ann Arbor Health Center on Plymouth Road. The project also will add 440 parking spaces for patients, faculty and staff. Construction tentatively is scheduled to begin in 2004 and the facility is set to be open for patient use in 2006.

"By building a Comprehensive Depression Center that emphasizes research strategies and collaboration with other health professionals we can identify and treat depression and bipolar disorder earlier and more effectively," says Dr. John Greden, the center's executive director. "With the center, we've also created one of the best weapons to counteract the remaining stigma surrounding depressive illnesses and related disorders. We want the millions of Americans who are suffering to feel comfortable in seeking care and optimal treatments.

"Centers of Excellence such as the U-M Depression Center accelerate progress by maximizing multidisciplinary research, minimizing clinical fragmentation, integrating care, and translating advances into communities," he says.

With the all-in-one design of the new Depression Center and Ambulatory Psychiatry facility, more patients suffering from depression and related bipolar and anxiety disorders will be able to receive coordinated care from multidisciplinary U-M clinical teams. Since episodes of depression tend to recur throughout a life span, the facility will provide an environment that integrates child, adolescent, adult and geriatric programs. The project also will enable improved integration of treatment for outpatients with other psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, substance use and attention deficit disorders.

The new clinical facility will create an inviting and relaxed atmosphere through its use of natural light, open space and an easy-to-navigate layout. Greden has made it a goal to have the facility design represent the antithesis of depression. The building plans also include an auditorium for use by patients, visitors, faculty, staff and community advocacy organizations.

With 28,000 square feet of new research space, the new facility will further expand and integrate multidisciplinary contributions from the investigators within the eight schools, colleges and institutions across the University that participate in the center's research and education efforts. These include the Medical School departments of Family Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Radiology, Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Psychiatry, Geriatrics, Cancer and Cardiology; Women's Health, the Mental Health Research Institute, Institute for Social Research and the Life Sciences Institute; LSA; schools of Public Health, Social Work, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Nursing; and the Division of Kinesiology.

The U-M Depression Center took its first step toward advancing treatment, research and education of depression in 2001 when the regents established it as the nation's first comprehensive center devoted to depressive illnesses. Modeled after successful centers in the cancer and cardiovascular fields, U-M designed its Comprehensive Depression Center to improve research and provide multidisciplinary treatment of depression.

Since its establishment, the Depression Center has worked to not only identify and treat patients earlier, but to educate them by sponsoring ongoing depression screening events and bringing national attention to issues such as depression on college campuses and the effects of maternal stress and depression on infants.

UMHS to build nation's first multidisciplinary Depression Center

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