You want the best for your parents or grandparents as they age. In the past, if they had a medical and psychiatric emergency you might have had to drive hours to find help. But that's not the case anymore, Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer has a new center to help your elderly loved ones.

Ricardo Mujica, Medical Director at the Center of Geriatric Psychiatry at Wing Memorial says, "If they feel better, they can deal with problems better."

A statement that is true for all of us, but especially true for those who are elderly and dealing with medical and psychiatric problems.

Mujica says, "It's estimated that nearly 20 percent of elderly individuals have a kind of mental disorder that is not part of the normal aging process."

And if those patients need short-term help, they can come to the Center of Geriatric Psychiatry at Wing Memorial Hospital.

Mujica says, "Our typical patient here is a widow, white female with either anxiety, sever cognitive impairment or mood disturbances who has multiple medical problems."

And is on multiple medications. So, doctors say it's very important to have a calm environment. You'll see no TVs, hear no loud hospital announcements and safety is a priority.

Mujica says, "They may be frail but they're still skillful enough in order to leave places."

To make sure patients don't wander off every patient has to wear a wrist band and if they get too close to the elevator doors an alarm will sound and the nurses will be notified.

The nurses also keep on eye on the 15 beds by using 10 security cameras and by doing rounds every 15 minutes.

In order to be treated at the Center of Geriatric Psychiatry you have to be 55 or older and you can only stay here for 10 days. A short time but the demand is only going to go up.

Mujica says, "This is the fastest growing age group."

And they're going to need a lot of care as they age to feel better.