Lake Behavioral Hospital

As the Director of Business Development and Marketing for Lake Behavioral Hospital, my job, I believe, is to always think about who I need to know and what I need to do to create awareness of our wonderful hospital. Well, Saturdays and Sundays are marketing days just as any other day of the week when one thinks that way. On the way to my haircut, today, Saturday, I took a slow, roundabout trip to my stylist and dropped off brochures at businesses that I would not have time to do during the week. It took about an hour, but I met restaurant owners who talked about stress, a tire company worker who gladly took our brochures because he has mental illness in his family and a car dealer who discussed, at length, his own personal journey with depression. When I got to the hair salon, my stylist Maria Romita (pictured here), had an article laminated on her wall about how transformative a haircut or style can be. She knows where I work and we began talking about how alopecia (an autoimmune hair loss condition), hair thinning and just the idea of how we see ourselves physically are all so important to our mental health. Maria began talking about the article and how people feel almost " magically transformed" and generally so much better when they leave her shop. She talked about self-care and coming to see her is one way to just feel better and cared for and valued. When I left and thought about my morning trip and visit with Maria, it reminded me that everyone has a story and their own ideas about mental health based on their own experiences and interests. Mental health is everywhere and so, then, is mental illness. I am so glad to work in a place where staff understand mental health and listen to those stories to create real mental wellness and recovery. Oh, and hey, Maria, thanks for posting that article for everyone to see and for believing that mental health matters and thanks for a great hair cut!

The Waukegan Golf Outing was a great place to say hello to old friends and make some new ones! Thank you to the Waukegan Chamber of Commerce for the hard work in putting together a record-setting-attendance- event. We appreciate always being called upon to sponsor and show support. If you attended the event, please remember to call for a tour to see Lake Behavioral Hospital and meet our incredible team. If you are reading this and curious about who we are, what the Waukegan community means to us, and how we contribute to community health., please call Lake Behavioral Hospital at 855 990 1900.

Recapping Mental Health Month-and Hospital Week! What an amazing team of spirited staff who make it their goal to help our patients find recovery and an improved quality of life. Special thanks to our CEO,Cindy DeMarco, who made the most of Hospital Week by sitting in a dunk tank and Sabrina Northern,President of NAMI Kenosha who has quite the throwing arm! June , of course, is all about PRIDE! Watch for pics of our attendance at a very rainy Waukegan PRIDEfest! It was fantastic!

🎉 We are thrilled to announce that our CEO, Cindy DeMarco, has been honored with the prestigious David Wagner Mental Health Advocacy Award! 🎉 "In recognition of visionary leadership, unwavering dedication, and transformative impact on mental health advocacy, we proudly present the David Wagner Mental Health Advocacy Award to Cindy DeMarco. As the CEO of Lake Behavioral Hospital, Cindy has demonstrated unparalleled commitment and leadership in advancing the cause of mental health awareness, advocacy, and support. Her visionary leadership has been instrumental in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) across counties, fostering collaboration and partnership to improve access to mental health services and support for individuals and communities in need." This award, presented by Bridges Community Center and NAMI Kenosha County, was on May 15, 2024. We congratulate Cindy for being a model for our hospital community. Her leadership and dedication continue to inspire us all, and we are proud to have her at the helm of Lake Behavioral Hospital. Pictured above are (L) Cindy DeMarco, CEO of LBH, (M) Sabrina Northern, President, NAMI Kenosha County, (R), Jack Rose, 15th District Alderperson Please join us in celebrating Cindy DeMarco's outstanding contributions to mental health advocacy! 🌟👏 #MentalHealthAdvocacy #Leadership #MentalHealthAwareness #LakeBehavioralHospital #CommunitySupport #Inspiration #AwardWinner

🎉 We are thrilled to announce that our CEO, Cindy DeMarco, has been honored with the prestigious David Wagner Mental Health Advocacy Award! 🎉 "In recognition of visionary leadership, unwavering dedication, and transformative impact on mental health advocacy, we proudly present the David Wagner Mental Health Advocacy Award to Cindy DeMarco. As the CEO of Lake Behavioral Hospital, Cindy has demonstrated unparalleled commitment and leadership in advancing the cause of mental health awareness, advocacy, and support. Her visionary leadership has been instrumental in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) across counties, fostering collaboration and partnership to improve access to mental health services and support for individuals and communities in need." This award, presented by Bridges Community Center and NAMI Kenosha County, was on May 15, 2024. We congratulate Cindy for being a model for our hospital community. Her leadership and dedication continue to inspire us all, and we are proud to have her at the helm of Lake Behavioral Hospital. Pictured above are (L) Cindy DeMarco, CEO of LBH, (M) Sabrina Northern, President, NAMI Kenosha County, (R), Jack Rose, 15th District Alderperson Please join us in celebrating Cindy DeMarco's outstanding contributions to mental health advocacy! 🌟👏 #MentalHealthAdvocacy #Leadership #MentalHealthAwareness #LakeBehavioralHospital #CommunitySupport #Inspiration #AwardWinner

Thank you Andrea Shales from Rosecrance for visiting Lake Behavioral Hospital. Our clinical team appreciated learning about your services. We are grateful to our community partners who support us as we improve the quality of lives of our patients. Please call us at 855 990 1900; let us tell you about our programs and teams. We change lives everyday.

Lake Behavioral Hospital supports our community by participating in Kiwanis, a service club whose goal is to improve the quality of life for children. Helping youth find positive mental health is one of things the team at Lake Behavioral does best and certainly one of the ways we improve the quality of life for the kids we serve. Kiwanis and Lake Behavioral Hospital make a difference everyday. Call us, 855 990 1900. Visit our hospital and meet our teams. With May as Mental Health month, it will be the perfect time to connect with us!

What a great training! Crisis Intervention Training is a blending of role play and presentations on a variety of topics, including mental health and community resources. Lake Behavioral Hospital and community partner, KHDS, provided police officers community and mental health information.

April is National Stress Awareness Month. The goal of this month is to recognize the impact stress can have on all of us. Finding positive ways to manage stress can make a difference in how healthy we are. Take time today to identify your stressors and consider a few of the following ways to beat stress: 1. Remind yourself of what makes you grateful. Positivity is a great way to counteract stress. 2. Surround yourself with positive people. Find people who love life and laugh often. 3. Try exercise and meditation. 4. Talk to someone. Holding back feelings only exacerbates the feelings and can make things worse. 5. Get educated. Keep learning and growing. The more you know, the better you will manage stress. Call on Lake Behavioral Hospital when stress is overwhelming. Let us help you by providing a free level of care assessment, 24/7/365. Please call 855 990 1900.

Thank you Susan Kocanda, Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce and friends like Katie Brooks, Continuity of Care, for inviting Lake Behavioral Hospital's Marketing Director, Charla Waxman, to keynote on Loneliness and Mental Health. What a great networking event!