Lake Region Healthcare expands senior mental health support in Elbow Lake
Older adults in Otter Tail County now have a nearby place to get therapy, psychiatric care and teletherapy at Elbow Lake Medical Center.
Lake Region Healthcare’s Senior Life Solutions program is giving older adults in and around Otter Tail County a local place to get mental-health support at the Elbow Lake Medical Center, 1411 Highway 79 East. The outpatient program is built for people typically age 65 and older who are dealing with depression, anxiety, grief, isolation or the feeling that they are simply not themselves.
The service is designed to keep care closer to home in a rural area where distance, transportation and privacy can keep seniors from seeking help. Instead of forcing older residents to travel farther for counseling or psychiatric care, the Elbow Lake campus now offers group therapy, individual therapy, family therapy, psychiatric evaluation, medication management, health screens and after-care planning in one setting.
Lake Region Healthcare says participants meet with a psychiatrist at least once a month. The program also offers teletherapy by telephone, computer or tablet, which gives patients another way to stay connected when leaving home is difficult or when regular travel is not practical. The health system describes the setting as warm and welcoming, with time for older adults to talk with peers and work with a licensed therapist.
Referrals can come from anyone, including healthcare professionals, family members or friends. That matters in smaller communities, where a spouse, adult child, neighbor or clinic worker may notice changes before the person struggling asks for help. The program is meant to catch those warning signs early and provide support before loneliness or depression turns into a crisis.
Lake Region Healthcare promoted a community open house at the Elbow Lake Medical Center on May 15, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the aim of making the service visible and easy to access. The Elbow Lake campus is part of Lake Region Healthcare’s wider network serving West Central Minnesota and Eastern Dakotas, and the health system says it has been consistently ranked among the top 100 rural hospitals in the nation.
For families in Elbow Lake, Fergus Falls and across the surrounding region, the new option means seniors do not have to choose between going without care and making a long drive for it.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
