OMAHA- In a new partnership, Sarpy County and UNMC will create Nebraska's first psychiatry fellowship to assess and treat inmates experiencing mental illness. The agreement calls for UNMC to provide one psychiatrist a year to perform services for inmates with serious mental illness. They will be able to provide treatments, prescribe medications, medication management, provide court testimony and reports and would complete competency evaluations.

The program will begin in 2023, when the Sarpy County Correctional Center is scheduled to open. The fellowship will support the dedicated behavioral health care unit.

A partnership with UNMC would be a game-changer for mental health treatment in Sarpy County," said Sarpy County Board Chairman Don Kelly. "This fellowship will assist inmates who are experiencing mental health crisis and those with serious mental illnesses, and hopefully get them on a path that doesn't lead back to jail."

UNMC plans to submit the program for national accreditation through the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. The fellow will work primarily with adult inmates, but the Wellness Court in Sarpy County will also assign the fellow to youth as well.

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