The Research Institute of University Hospitals of Cleveland and the CWRU School of Medicine recently dedicated their new Center of Excellence for Care and Study of Children and Adults with Bipolar Disorder and Alcohol/Drug Abuse.

Instead of a ribbon cutting, however, Pedro Delgado, chair of psychiatry and master of ceremonies, gathered the participating officials for a ribbon joining ceremony, to symbolize how the new center would unite various constituents around northern Ohio, especially the people providing care with people needing care.

The dedication included remarks from the Hon. Marcy Kaptur, U.S. representative, (D-9th District), a passionate advocate for the mentally ill who played a major role in the development of the center, and the Hon. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-11th District), who said, "I can't wait for the day in health care when we can provide parity for people with mental illness."

Kaptur was instrumental in obtaining a grant of $987,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for the new center. UHC will match the grant with $1 million over three years.

Kaptur said that she and her colleagues in the Ohio delegation hope to help make the UHC hospital system one of the best in the nation. Kaptur, currently the woman with the most seniority in the House of Representatives, said she has been concerned with the plight of the mentally ill for most of her legislative career. Her vision, she said, is to see the "circles of care" expand out from CWRU and UHC to help areas around the state.

She read a letter from a constituent who suffers from mental illness. Although diagnosed in 1978 with mental illness, the letter writer did not receive relief until 1991, when the person was treated by Joseph Calabrese, a professor of psychiatry who will co-direct the new center. Until then, the person could not write at all, the letter said.

The center's other co-director is Robert L. Findling, associate professor of psychiatry, who specializes in pediatric psychiatry.

Delgado, the Douglas Bond Professor and chairman, department of psychiatry, spoke about the lack of services for children, which he hopes the new center will rectify.

"For a long time, it was thought that children didn't have mental disorders. We've gotten better at diagnosing mental illness in children, but, unfortunately, it hasn't translated into clinical care," he said.

Also taking the podium at the event were Lynn Singer, deputy provost and interim vice president for medical affairs at CWRU; President Edward M. Hundert; and John Ferry, interim president and chief executive officer at UHC.

Hundert, who also is a psychiatrist, said, "This is a great example of the partnership between UHC and CWRU. It is the sort of effort that becomes possible by working together." He also said that the majority of families in America have been touched by mental illnesses, including his own.

He said he has been public about his only brother who suffered from mental illness and who committed suicide while in college.

Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder characterized by mood extremes, from euphoria to depression. The condition also is known as manic-depressive illness. Its causes are elusive, and there is no cure. The disorder afflicts between one and three of every 100 people. Sixty percent of people with the disorder also develop alcohol or drug abuse problems. Either of these disorders is enough to ruin a life, but when both affect the same person (referred to as dual diagnosis), the damage done is much more severe and usually lasts a lifetime.

The center will work with people of all ages who are suffering from bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, especially those with co-occurring alcohol or drug abuse. It will specialize in consultation, treatment and research.

The department of psychiatry at UHC and CWRU is recognized as one of the leading sites in the world for clinical research into the treatment of bipolar disorder in adults, adolescents and children. More patients with these conditions are studied at UHC than in any other single site in the world, according to Calabrese. He and Findling are leaders in treatment-oriented research for bipolar disorder, helping to establish the treatment approaches of the future.

"With the encouragement and support from U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur, a plan was developed last year to expand the availability and scope of this resource by establishing a Center of Excellence," said Delgado. "With financial support from the federal government and matching funds from University Hospitals of Cleveland, this dream is about to become a reality."

The center's mission is to improve the lives of dual diagnosis patients as well as their families. This will be accomplished in three ways: by the early and accurate recognition of dual diagnosis patients in community mental health settings; by improvement of the medical management of dual diagnosis bipolar disorder through clinical research projects designed to develop better tolerated and more effective medications, and by development of efficient and practical psychosocial interventions designed to improve treatment adherence in community mental health settings.

The Center of Excellence will closely coordinate its activities with existing programs and centers in Northeast Ohio dedicated to treating patients with serious mental illness and substance abuse. The new funding will allow the center to build and maintain a network of sites across northeast Ohio tertiary care centers, including UHC, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and several community mental health settings. A family psychiatry approach will be pioneered, which will for the first time integrate health care delivery across the entire human life cycle, allowing children, their afflicted parents and their families to receive care within one center.

For more information, contact the Center of Excellence for adults at 844-2850, for children and adolescents 844-3881 or e-mail Bipolar.COE@uhhs.com.