Geriatric Psychiatrist Lakeland
Geriatric psychiatry for Lakeland-area adults 60 and older. Lakeland patients are served via HIPAA-secure Florida telehealth, or in person at our Wesley Chapel office (about a 60-minute drive). Real medication review, late-life depression and anxiety expertise, and a clinician who takes the full medication list seriously.
Care that comes to your living room.
Tell us what is going on. A care coordinator will set up a telehealth visit (or an in-person trip to Wesley Chapel), walk through your Medicare options, and confirm a real next-available appointment.
Got it. We will be in touch.
A care coordinator will reach out within one business day. If you would rather not wait, call (813) 670-3005.
Lakeland geriatric psychiatry, delivered the way it actually works for Polk County families
Polk County has a large and growing 65-and-older population, and the local geriatric psychiatry options are thin. The honest truth is that the wait for any board-certified psychiatric provider with real geriatric training in Lakeland, Bartow, Auburndale, Winter Haven, and the surrounding communities is often three to six months. We close that gap by delivering geriatric psychiatry to Lakeland-area patients via statewide Florida telehealth, with the option to come in person at our Wesley Chapel office when a face-to-face visit is right.
This is the right model for the patient population. Most older adults in Lakeland do not want to drive 60 minutes to Wesley Chapel for a 40-minute follow-up, and the family members helping with appointments do not want to lose a half-day of work either. Telehealth from the patient's home (or from a daughter's living room) is almost always the better fit. When in-person is genuinely the right call, the Wesley Chapel office is a clean trip on I-4 west to SR-54.
What Lakeland families get from a real geriatric-focused PMHNP
Geriatric psychiatry is not the same as adult psychiatry with older patients. The medication list is longer, the body metabolizes differently, and conditions like depression, grief, sleep disturbance, and early cognitive change can look identical for the first three months. Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC is lifespan-trained, which means she has the explicit geriatric curriculum and clinical training that a strictly adult-focused PMHNP does not.
The first telehealth visit is sixty minutes and starts with the medication list. Bring everything to the camera: prescription bottles, supplements, over-the-counter pills, and patches. We look for interactions, drugs that can worsen depression in older adults, and anything on the Beers list that should be tapered safely in coordination with the primary care physician. Family members are welcome on every visit with the patient's consent.
How Lakeland-area patients are actually served
Two modes. First mode (most common): HIPAA-secure telehealth visits from the patient's home, an adult child's home, or an assisted-living common-area video room. A care coordinator does a 5-minute tech check before the first appointment so the technology is not a surprise on visit day. We can also do voice-only follow-ups for established patients when video is not workable.
Second mode (less common, but available): in-person at our Wesley Chapel office at 27724 Cashford Circle, Suite 102. From Lakeland, the drive is roughly 60 minutes west on I-4, then north on SR-54. Some families do a single in-person intake and then switch to telehealth for follow-ups. Geriatric psychiatric in-person care is not currently offered at the Lakeland clinic; the Lakeland office remains part of our Polk County footprint for talk therapy services, while face-to-face geriatric psychiatry visits are anchored at our Wesley Chapel location.
We work with Medicare-eligible patients on a self-pay basis and provide a superbill that many patients submit to Medicare for partial reimbursement. We do not currently bill Medicare directly for psychiatric services. Call (813) 670-3005 and we will walk through your specific reimbursement path before your first visit.
Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC
Board-certified Florida-licensed psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Lifespan-trained, which means her formal training covers child, adolescent, adult, and geriatric psychiatric care. She sees patients in person at our Wesley Chapel office and across Florida via HIPAA-secure telehealth.
Margot believes the first visit is for listening. Sixty minutes, the medication list out on the table, the family in the room when it helps. The treatment plan comes from what she actually learns about you, not from what fits a template.
Read Margot's full bioFrequently Asked Questions
Do you see geriatric psychiatric patients in person at your Lakeland office?
Not at this time. Our in-person geriatric psychiatry is anchored at the Wesley Chapel office. Lakeland-area patients are served via HIPAA-secure Florida telehealth, or in person at Wesley Chapel (about a 60-minute drive west on I-4). Our Lakeland clinic remains part of the Ascend footprint and is used for other services.
Do you accept Medicare for Lakeland telehealth visits?
We work with Medicare-eligible patients on a self-pay basis and provide a superbill that many patients submit to Medicare for partial reimbursement. We do not currently bill Medicare directly for psychiatric services. Call (813) 670-3005 and we will walk through your specific path before the first visit.
My mother is not great with technology. How does the telehealth setup actually work?
We do a 5-minute tech check by phone before the first appointment. Most older adults join from a tablet or a laptop; some use a smartphone. We send a simple email link and a phone number to call if anything goes sideways. By the second visit, most patients have the routine down.
How long is the drive from Lakeland to your Wesley Chapel office?
Roughly 60 minutes, west on I-4 to SR-54. Some Lakeland-area families choose to do their first 60-minute intake in person at Wesley Chapel and then switch to telehealth for the follow-ups. Both modes are fully supported.
Can a family member be on the call with my dad?
Yes, with your father's permission, and we strongly encourage it. With older adults, a family member who knows the day-to-day makes the evaluation significantly more accurate and follow-through on medication changes much smoother.
Do you treat dementia and memory loss?
We screen for cognitive decline and treat the psychiatric symptoms that come with dementia (agitation, depression, sleep disturbance). For comprehensive dementia diagnostic workup, we refer to neurology or a memory-disorder clinic and coordinate care with that specialist.
Real psychiatric care, for the years that matter.
Same-week intake, real 60-minute first visits, and the same provider every time. Call us or send the form at the top of the page; a care coordinator will get back to you within one business day.