Geropsychiatric units

Whether or not geropsychiatric services are developed by individual hospitals depends on several factors, not the least of which are current geriatric volume, physical capacity, availability of increased staff, psychiatrists' interest, community linkages, and perhaps most important, the facility's ability to modify its operational procedures as required. Geropsychiatry is in its early stage of growth. Southern hospitals that can overcome the operational problems of delivering inpatient care to this population will find themselves developing a market segment that has been overgeneralized, overlooked, and subsequently underserved.