About Compass
Compass strives to set the standard of excellence for Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) Programs by providing comprehensive, compassionate, evidence-based behavioral health treatment to our patients and their families.
What Sets Us Apart
The Compass Story
Compass was founded and led by experienced child and adolescent, and adult psychiatrists Dr. David Schreiber, MD and Dr. Claudia Welke, MD when they recognized the need for patient-centered, intensive, non-hospital based psychiatric care in the Chicago area.
While working together in a hospital that provided PHP/IOP and inpatient hospitalization, Dr. Schreiber and Dr. Welke realized that there were not enough psychiatrists or hospital beds to treat the children they saw in behavioral health crises. As a result, children were being placed on long wait lists, which often only made them sicker, resulting in ER visits that would lead to admission for inpatient care. Dr. Schreiber and Dr. Welke realized that with the proper resources in place, many of these ER and inpatient hospitalizations could have been avoided and replaced with a level of care that was timelier, more appropriate, and less costly and disruptive.
In 2011, Compass Health Center’s first location in Northbrook, IL opened its doors, serving adolescent and young adult patients. Since then, Compass has served more patients each year, expanding to new regions, opening new specialty care offerings, and steadily expanding the variety of patients treated.
Comprehensive, Compassionate, Evidence-Based Care
Compass Health Center provides Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) level care care with a deep commitment to clinical quality and patient/family satisfaction. Compass's goal is to help patients overcome debilitating psychiatric symptoms so they can continue living their best lives.
Compass's Treatment Team
Compass's multidisciplinary treatment team consists of over 350 doctors and masters-level clinicians. Specialized staff include board-certified child, adolescent, adult, and addiction psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, family therapists, trauma therapists, OCD therapists, and more.
The Compass Difference
Dedicated Clinicians
Full-time Psychiatrists/NPs
School and Community Partnerships
of Patients Would Refer Family or Friends
of Patients Step Down to a Lower Level of Care
Virtual PHP/IOP Programs Available
Meet the Founders
DAVID A. SCHREIBER, MD
CO-FOUNDER AND CEODr. David Schreiber, MD is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Compass Health Center. Twenty-one years ago, while in medical school, Schreiber was distraught over the mental health stigma and demand/scarcity of mental health services available to children and adults suffering from debilitating psychiatric disorders. This reality inspired him to pursue a career in psychiatry. His journey began with a desire to move the needle by becoming the best doctor he can be and understanding the various behavioral health systems providing psychiatric care. Over an 11-year period, Schreiber worked at 22 different psychiatric systems while treating children and adults with the most diverse and complex psychiatric conditions. Understanding the whole person and how they interplay within their family, community, and beyond is why he became a child/adolescent and adult psychiatrist.
Schreiber completed his medical school training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He then went on to complete his Adult Psychiatry Residency at Yale University College of Medicine and his Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Schreiber has received numerous distinctions including the Yale Psychiatry Department Resident Teacher of the Year Award, Chief Fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Physician of the Year, and CRC Compassion Award.
The mental health crisis plaguing our children and their families has worsened over several decades. Unfortunately, no demographic is escaping from this reality and the shortage of providers and access to care has impacted the ability of people to get the care they need in a timely fashion. Our health care system has been failing our children and adults in need of access to treatment. Schreiber witnessed many acute patients utilizing costly and ineffective emergency rooms and inpatient units to solve their crises.
This failure in the health care system was the impetus for opening Compass Health Center over a decade ago. Our goal is to improve access through our onsite and virtual offerings, offer services to all ages, and provide a comforting environment for people to heal while still living in their homes so they can return to their everyday life with a sense of hope and confidence for their days ahead.
CLAUDIA P. WELKE, MD
CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICERDr. Claudia Welke, MD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Compass Health Center. In 1998, Welke completed her medical training at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and then went on to complete her psychiatric residency in Adult Psychiatry, and a fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine. Upon her return to the North Shore, Welke became an attending physician at Highland Park Hospital, where she saw patients across their lifespan in various program settings including inpatient hospitalization and outpatient care. During this time, she acted as the Director of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry training for the University of Chicago fellows rotating through the Hospital. Her mission is to expand access to care to those in need of intensive behavioral health programs throughout the country.
When Welke co-founded Compass with Dr. David Schreiber, MD, she was confident in her reputation and competency as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, and she felt that she could touch the lives of her patients through her practice. Compass’s mission is much bigger than hers as an individual. Problem-solving the behavioral health crisis in the U.S. will take teams of people working together with open-mindedness and curiosity.
Starting Compass in 2011 while having three small children was a juggling act. One of the lessons Welke learned was to stop comparing herself to other working moms who seemed to have it all figured out. She remembers reading a quote by Michelle Obama about the “myth of being able to have it all,” and it resonated with her. As a full-time working mom, there certainly is a pressure to be perfect at both work and home, and she has learned that is not always attainable—and that is okay.
Several instrumental people have mentored Welke throughout her career thus far, and yet her ultimate mentors and role models are her parents. They taught Welke to believe in herself and never let anyone say she cannot do something. When she thinks about their experience, immigrating from South America to the U.S.–her mom a lawyer that was unable to practice, and her father a primary care physician working with a low-income immigrant population in Chicago–she is in awe. Their ultimate message was, do not be afraid to take chances or make mistakes, as you will miss 100% of the opportunities that you do not try.
The Compass Difference
Putting you at the center of your care
Compass appreciates that each person served has a unique background, diverse needs, and different treatment goals. The Compass team believes truly individualized care leads to better clinical outcomes.
Age-specific, specialized PHP/IOP treatment
Compass's care model is designed to serve ages 5 through all stages of adulthood and specialized to treat a wide range of conditions including, Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, Substance Use, OCD, Chronic Pain, and more.
Experienced, compassionate treatment team
Compass's specialized staff includes board-certified child, adolescent, adult and addiction psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, counselors, nurses, and more. Compass's clinicians are solely focused on their specialized role allowing them to become true experts delivering the most specialized care.
Flexible options that work for you
Compass Virtual is a 100% virtual PHP/IOP option, allowing patients to overcome a range of barriers to care while ensuring the highest standards for clinical quality are achieved. Across both virtual and in-person programs, Compass's hours are designed to work for your schedule including after school and evening programs.
Deeply ingrained in the community
Every year Compass works with more than 200 academic institutions (elementary schools through college), more than 1,000 outpatient therapists, psychiatrists, and primary care doctors, and most major hospitals in the regions we serve. The Compass team works and supports many local non-profit mental health organizations to extend its community reach and help serve more people every day.
Support every step of the way
Navigating the mental health landscape can be complex, which is why Compass's dedicated administrative team strives to provide exceptional support. Compass works closely with individuals and families to check insurance benefits, navigate leave of absence or FMLA, and fill prescriptions, as well as ensure financial, transportation, or other concerns do not delay treatment.Compass as a Resource
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