Bartow, FL – Peace River Center is pleased to announce Jacob Temple, DNP, ANP-BC, NEA-BC, CENP has joined the organization as Director of Inpatient Services. In this new role, Temple is responsible for the Inpatient Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) in Bartow and Lakeland as well as the Short-term Residential Treatment Program (SRT) in Bartow. The CSUs are secure public receiving facilities for Florida’s Baker Act that offer emergency/crisis care intervention services 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The SRT is a secure 30-bed specialized residential unit that provides clients with a safe, therapeutic environment for an extended length of time. Temple’s role ensures the inpatient programs and facilities are operating in an efficient and effective manner providing quality patient care services in keeping with the mission of Peace River Center.
Temple holds a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (Systems Leadership) from Rush University and a Master of Science in Nursing from Florida Southern College. He is a Board Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified Nurse Executive, and is Certified in Executive Nursing Practice. He is the current President of the Polk County Organization of Nurse Executives. Prior to joining Peace River Center, Temple was an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Clinical Services for the Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing at the Nova Southeastern University – Tampa Campus. His previous experience includes serving as the Director of Mental Health Services & Clinical Support for a division of Lakeland Regional Health.
With the creation of Temple’s role, Kirk Fasshauer, LCSW, FT transitioned into a new role as Director of Crisis Response Services and Professional Development, overseeing the psychiatric crisis phone line, voluntary walk-in crisis assessments, mobile crisis response team and critical incident stress debriefing services. He continues to work with Law Enforcement Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and to educate and promote awareness about Peace River Center and behavioral health issues in the community.
“As we have all seen with the very unfortunate local tragic events in the news recently, the availability and accessibility of Crisis Response Services for our community is growing in importance. The need to increase the link between community crisis response, our partnership with schools, law enforcement and medical providers, and crisis stabilization services is increasing and requires increased leadership,” said J. William Gardam, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer of Peace River Center. The organization recently expanded the Crisis Response Team (CRT), which is available 24-hours a day by calling (863) 519-3744 or (800) 627-5906, to Highlands County. This free mobile outreach service provides immediate crisis assessment, intervention, counseling, referrals, and follow-up contact for adults and children experiencing an emotional crisis such as suicidal intentions, self-destructive behaviors, or acute, severe, and intense emotional distress.
Peace River Center
Peace River Center is a licensed and accredited, non-profit provider of mental health, substance use and integrated medical services serving Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties. Peace River Center provides options for people struggling with mental health and addiction, for children and adults coping with the trauma of abuse and violence, crisis intervention for people in acute need, and housing and community support and integration for people affected by domestic violence or whose recovery requires more support and time. Peace River Center offers inpatient, outpatient, home-, school- and community-based services, telehealth and mobile programs to individuals, groups and families. Peace River Center’s dedicated and compassionate staff of more than 400 operate 36 programs out of 27 locations and provide 24/7 emergency psychiatric response services to the community through the mobile psychiatric Crisis Response Team. In FY2018, Peace River Center had contact with and provided services to more than 23,000 children, adolescents, adults and seniors. For more information visit www.peacerivercenter.org.