Union Hospital holds physical-mental health conference

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Union Hospital held a mental health conference Friday to educate students of medicine on the growing need to combine physical healthcare with mental.

Healthcare students from ISU and IU listened to mental health experts from the Hamilton Center. Most of the students currently study physical health. The speakers educated students on treating mental health issues in patients. Health care officials see a growing trend of primary care physicians being called on to care for mental health patients.

"Theres a lot of budgetary have happened that have reduced the availability of different types of services, so its falling more and more on primary car physicians to pick up the slack," CEO of Union Hospital Randy Stevens M.D. said.

Union Hospital's conference combining mental with physical health ranks as one of the first of its kind in the state.