Geriatric Psychiatrist St. Petersburg
Geriatric psychiatry for St. Petersburg adults 60 and older, by HIPAA-secure telehealth. Pinellas has one of the highest 65-and-older population densities in Florida, and the wait for board-certified geriatric psychiatric care is often months long. Telehealth removes the wait and the drive.
Geriatric psychiatry that comes to your apartment.
Tell us what is going on. A care coordinator will set up a telehealth visit, 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.
St. Petersburg: one of Florida's densest older-adult populations, finally with real access
Pinellas County has one of the highest 65-and-older population concentrations in the state of Florida. St. Petersburg in particular, with its high-rise apartment buildings along the waterfront, the established neighborhoods of Old Northeast, Snell Isle, Coquina Key, Pinellas Point, and the active-adult communities along Tyrone, has an aging population the local psychiatric workforce has never been able to fully serve. The standard wait for a new-patient appointment with a board-certified geriatric-trained psychiatric provider in St. Pete is often three to six months.
Telehealth solves it. A 76-year-old in a high-rise on Beach Drive does not need to drive across the bay for a 45-minute follow-up. A retired couple in Pinellas Park can join a visit together from the living room. We see the entire pattern of Pinellas geriatric psychiatry access break open when the transportation barrier comes down.
Why a lifespan-trained PMHNP matters for older Pinellas adults
Geriatric psychiatry is a distinct clinical discipline. Drugs metabolize differently. Polypharmacy is the rule, not the exception. Late-life depression frequently has a medical or medication-driven component that gets missed by clinicians without the geriatric training. Grief and depression can look identical at month three but require different treatment paths at month nine.
Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC is lifespan-trained, which means she has the explicit geriatric curriculum that a strictly adult-focused PMHNP does not have. She avoids benzodiazepines in the elderly when possible per Beers criteria, takes the full medication list as the starting point of every visit, and coordinates with the primary care physician on any changes.
How St. Pete telehealth visits work
Most Pinellas patients join from a tablet or a laptop in a quiet room. The care coordinator does a 5-minute tech check by phone before the first appointment. The visit itself is in a HIPAA-secure video room; you click the link, the camera turns on, and the appointment runs. We send appointment reminders by email and by phone for patients who prefer the call.
Adult children, spouses, and home health aides are welcome on the call with the patient's permission. We do regular medication review (bring every bottle to the camera at the first visit), screen for cognitive change when indicated, and coordinate with the primary care physician on prescription changes. We work with Medicare-eligible patients on a self-pay basis and provide a superbill many patients submit for partial reimbursement. We do not currently bill Medicare directly for psychiatric services.
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 have a physical office in St. Petersburg?
Not at this time. We serve St. Petersburg and the broader Pinellas County via statewide Florida telehealth. For patients who specifically want in-person care, our Wesley Chapel office is about 50-60 minutes north depending on traffic and bridge route.
Do you accept Medicare for St. Pete 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 reimbursement path before the first visit.
My elderly mother lives in a Pinellas assisted-living facility. Will telehealth work from there?
Yes. We work with several Pinellas-area assisted-living facilities whose staff set up telehealth visits in a common-area video room or in the resident's own apartment. A family member or aide can be present with the patient's consent.
What do you treat in late-life psychiatric care?
Late-life depression, anxiety, grief and bereavement, sleep disturbance, polypharmacy-driven mood changes, and the psychiatric symptoms that often come with dementia (agitation, depression, sleep). For comprehensive dementia diagnostic workup, we refer to neurology.
My dad refuses to use a computer. Is there any way around that?
Often, yes. We can do voice-only follow-up visits for established patients when video is genuinely not workable, with a Florida-licensed exception. Many older adults also let an adult child set up the tablet and join the call together, which solves the technology question entirely.
How quickly can a St. Pete patient be seen?
Typically one to two weeks for a new telehealth intake. That is meaningfully faster than the three-to-six-month wait that has become the Pinellas standard. Call (813) 670-3005 for a real next-available appointment.
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.