# Psychiatric Care for Signal Hill > A short drive from Signal Hill: psychiatric evaluation, diagnosis, and medication management at our Long Beach Blvd office, or by telehealth. **Source:** https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/psychiatrist-signal-hill/ **Provider:** Breakthrough Mental Health — Long Beach, CA (telehealth across CA) 1. [Home](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/) 2. Psychiatric Care for Signal Hill Signal Hill, California Three miles from an office that sits in the city wrapped entirely around yours — psychiatric evaluation and medication management, in person or by video. [Request an appointment](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/book/)[Call (818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862) *(image: A man standing at a hilltop overlook at golden hour, hands on the railing, looking out over the city)* In short ## Psychiatric care for Signal Hill Signal Hill is a separate city sitting entirely inside Long Beach, and our psychiatric office is roughly three miles from its hilltop — about ten minutes whichever way you come down. We provide evaluation, diagnosis and ongoing medication management in person on Long Beach Boulevard, or by secure video anywhere in California. Our office 3646 Long Beach Blvd # 205, Long Beach, CA 90807 Hours Mon–Fri · 8 AM–6 PM (Pacific) Phone [(818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862) [Get directions →](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=3646%20Long%20Beach%20Blvd%20%23%20205%2C%20Long%20Beach%2C%20CA%2090807) Telehealth available across California, with new locations coming to Northern California. What we do ## Psychiatric care for Signal Hill patients We are a psychiatric practice, not a therapy group and not a clinic directory. That means diagnosis, medication, and someone who keeps track of how you are actually doing over time. - ### [Psychiatry Services](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/psychiatry/) Comprehensive psychiatric care — diagnosis, treatment planning, and ongoing management led by a board-certified provider. - ### [Medication Management](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/medication-management/) Careful prescribing, monitoring, and adjustment of psychiatric medications to maximize benefit and minimize side effects. - ### [Psychiatric Evaluation](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/psychiatric-evaluation/) A thorough first assessment to understand your history and symptoms and build an accurate diagnosis and plan. ### What a first visit looks like A full psychiatric evaluation runs about an hour. We go through what brought you in, your history, what you have tried before and how it went, physical health and medications, and what you want to be different. You leave with a working diagnosis where one is clear, a plan, and a follow-up booked — not a referral to somewhere else. Follow-ups are shorter, usually every few weeks at first and further apart once things are steady. Medication changes are made deliberately, one at a time, so it stays possible to tell what is working. ### In person or by video, from Signal Hill Both are real options and the clinical care is the same. Video visits are secure and available anywhere in California, which for most people makes the first appointment in person and the routine follow-ups from home or on a work break. If getting here is the thing standing between you and treatment, take the video visit rather than skipping the care. That is what it is for. Care is provided by our psychiatric team — [Irine Achuamang, MSN, PMHNP-BC](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/providers/irine-achuamang/) and [Austina Cho, MD](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/providers/austina-cho/). Paying for care ## High incomes, and a lot of Medi-Cal Usually, yes. We are in network with 19 commercial carriers, including Aetna, Anthem, Beacon Health Options, Carelon, Cigna and others — you can check your own plan below before booking anything. That list includes TRICARE and TriWest, so service members, veterans and military families are billed like anyone else here. **We do not currently take Medi-Cal managed care.** If that is your coverage, we are a self-pay option rather than a covered visit, and it is better to know that now than at the front desk. Self-pay is $250 for a 60-minute initial psychiatric evaluation and $150 for a 30-minute follow-up visit, and there is a sliding scale — please ask. ### What that looks like in Signal Hill Local coverage data, so you can see roughly where you fall before you call: - Among Signal Hill adults aged 19 to 64, 57.6 percent hold employer-based coverage only and 5.0 percent buy their own plan, putting 62.5 percent on commercial insurance. [source](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B27010&geo_ids=16000US0671876) - In the same age band 21.0 percent of Signal Hill residents rely on Medi-Cal or another means-tested public program and 7.8 percent report no coverage. [source](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B27010&geo_ids=16000US0671876) - Signal Hill has a population of 11,468 and a median household income of $113,298 — a high-income city with a notably high share of public coverage alongside it. [source](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B01003,B19013&geo_ids=16000US0671876) Accepted in-network ## In-network with your insurance We're in-network with most major plans, so care stays affordable. Not sure about yours? Verify your coverage in about a minute — or we'll gladly check it for you. No card to hand? Just leave your name and number — tick “look it up for me” and we'll do the checking. Self-pay & sliding-scale options are also available. Verify your coverage[or call (818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862)or request a callback Plans we accept - *(image: Aetna insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Beacon Health Options insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Carelon Behavioral Health insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Cigna insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Evernorth (Cigna behavioral health) insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: GEHA (Government Employees Health Association) insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: HMC HealthWorks insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Independence Blue Cross (IBX) insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Magellan Health insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: MultiPlan insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Optum insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Oscar Health insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: Oxford Health Plans insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: TRICARE insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: TriWest Healthcare Alliance (TRICARE West) insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: UMR (UnitedHealthcare) insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* - *(image: UnitedHealthcare insurance accepted at Breakthrough Mental Health)* ## Paying out of pocket? Self-pay rates Clear, upfront self-pay rates — no surprises, no fine print. You’ll know the cost before your first visit. - Initial psychiatric evaluation $250/ 1 hour - Follow-up visit $150/ 30 min Sliding-scale options are available — just ask. [Request an appointment](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/book/) People come to us from Signal Hill for the ordinary reasons anyone sees a psychiatrist: panic that has started arriving without warning, a low mood that has stopped lifting, insomnia that has outlasted every piece of sleep-hygiene advice, attention difficulties that are finally costing something. What we provide is psychiatric — an evaluation that produces an actual diagnosis, medication managed properly, and follow-up that notices when something is not working. We are not a therapy practice, though we coordinate with therapists constantly and will say plainly when therapy is the part you most need. Ten minutes is the number that matters clinically here. Signal Hill sits inside Long Beach on every side, and whichever way you come down the hill — Cherry Avenue onto the 405, East Hill Street across to Atlantic, or straight up Orange — you arrive in about the same time. That makes a particular kind of care possible. Starting or changing a psychiatric medication works best with short, frequent contact through the first month or two, and a ten-minute drive makes a fifteen-minute review worth attending. Where the trip is an hour, people stretch four-week checks into three months and the thread gets lost. The coverage picture here is genuinely unusual and worth being straight about. Signal Hill’s median household income is a little over $113,000, higher than most cities we serve — and yet about one working-age resident in five is on Medi-Cal, a share closer to the Gateway Cities than to a city with that income. Both are true at once; a city of eleven and a half thousand holds that spread easily. For the roughly sixty-two percent on commercial coverage the odds are good your plan is one of ours. For those on Medi-Cal managed care it is not, and self-pay with a sliding scale is what we can offer instead. Something administrative catches people out here, and it matters when you are hunting for help. Being surrounded by Long Beach does not put you inside it. Signal Hill is a separate incorporated city, so its residents fall under Los Angeles County’s health and mental health systems rather than Long Beach’s own department. If you have ever been handed a Long Beach resource list and found none of it applied to you, that is the reason. The county line is (800) 854-7771, answered at any hour. What medication management actually involves is worth spelling out, because the phrase is vague and people picture something more passive than it is. It means choosing a medication with you rather than at you, starting low, and then reviewing on a schedule — checking whether the target symptom has moved, what side effects have appeared, how sleep and appetite have shifted, and whether the dose should change. It also means stopping things that are not earning their place. A surprising share of the people we see arrive on a medication nobody has reviewed in two years, and the useful first move is subtraction rather than addition. On transport, Long Beach Transit’s Routes 21 and 22 run Cherry Avenue, the city’s main north-south street. There is no Metro rail stop inside Signal Hill — the nearest A Line platforms are over on Long Beach Boulevard to the west — but on a trip this short that matters less than it would from further out. If you are weighing whether to start at all, an evaluation is a cheap way to find out. One hour, a real history, and either a plan or a clear statement that this is not the right door. In crisis, 988 answers by call or text at any time of day. Getting here ## Travelling from Signal Hill Distances and times below are Google's, timed on a weekday at the hour each route note states, in the traffic it labels usual for that route. Allow longer at the peaks each note says were not sampled. ### By car - From Signal Hill Park on Cherry Avenue the office is 3.2 miles and about 10 minutes via Cherry Avenue and a short stretch of I-405 north. Timed on a weekday evening. Morning and afternoon peaks were not sampled. [google.com](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=Signal+Hill+Park,+2201+E+Panorama+Dr,+Signal+Hill,+CA+90755&destination=3646+Long+Beach+Blvd,+Long+Beach,+CA+90807&travelmode=driving)checked 2026-08-26 - Two surface-street alternatives take the same ten minutes — 3.1 miles by East Hill Street, Atlantic Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard, or 3.2 miles up Orange Avenue — so the freeway saves nothing on this trip. Timed on a weekday evening. Morning and afternoon peaks were not sampled. [google.com](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=Signal+Hill+Park,+2201+E+Panorama+Dr,+Signal+Hill,+CA+90755&destination=3646+Long+Beach+Blvd,+Long+Beach,+CA+90807&travelmode=driving)checked 2026-08-26 ### By transit - Long Beach Transit Routes 21 and 22 run Cherry Avenue, Signal Hill's main north-south street, between Downey Avenue and Lakewood Station. [ridelbt.com](https://ridelbt.com/routes-and-services/)checked 2026-08-26 - No Metro rail station lies inside Signal Hill; the nearest stops on the A Line are along Long Beach Boulevard to the west. [gitlab.com](https://gitlab.com/LACMTA/gtfs_rail/-/raw/master/stops.txt)checked 2026-08-26 Local ## Other resources in Signal Hill These are listed because they are useful. We have no referral arrangement with any of them. - Signal Hill is its own incorporated city rather than part of Long Beach, so its residents fall under the Los Angeles County health and mental health systems rather than Long Beach's city department. [dmh.lacounty.gov](https://dmh.lacounty.gov/get-help-now/)checked 2026-08-26 - The county's mental health help line answers at (800) 854-7771 every hour of every day and can arrange service referrals or a crisis assessment. [dmh.lacounty.gov](https://dmh.lacounty.gov/get-help-now/)checked 2026-08-26 - Dialing or texting 988 connects to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline nationwide. [988lifeline.org](https://988lifeline.org/)checked 2026-08-26 Related ## What we treat, and where to read more - [Anxiety & Related Disorders](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/conditions/anxiety/) - [Panic Disorder](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/conditions/panic-disorder/) - [Insomnia](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/conditions/insomnia/) - [Psychiatric Evaluation](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/psychiatric-evaluation/) - [Medication Management](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/medication-management/) - [Psychiatrist in Long Beach →](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/psychiatrist-long-beach/) - [All areas we serve →](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/locations/) ## Frequently asked questions How far is your office from Signal Hill? About 3.2 miles and roughly ten minutes. What is unusual here is that the freeway does not help: coming down Cherry Avenue onto the 405, or taking East Hill Street and Atlantic, or running up Orange Avenue all land within a minute of each other. Pick whichever exit from the hill you prefer. Signal Hill is inside Long Beach — are we covered by Long Beach services? Not for public health. Signal Hill is a separate incorporated city, so although it is surrounded by Long Beach on every side, its residents come under Los Angeles County's health and mental health systems rather than Long Beach's own city department. The county help line is (800) 854-7771. Do you take the plans most Signal Hill residents have? Usually. About 62 percent of working-age residents here carry commercial coverage, which is the kind we contract with. Roughly one in five is on Medi-Cal, and we do not contract with any Medi-Cal managed-care plan — for those neighbours we are a self-pay option with a sliding scale. Do you offer therapy as well? No. We are a psychiatric practice, which means evaluation, diagnosis, medication and follow- up. Plenty of people need therapy alongside that and some need therapy instead of it. Where that is the missing piece we will say so at the evaluation rather than treating around it. What actually happens at a first appointment? About an hour. What brought you in, your history, what you have tried before and how it went, physical health and current medications, and what you want to be different. You leave with a working diagnosis where one is clear, a plan, and a follow-up booked. I get panic attacks driving. Is a ten-minute drive still the right call? It may well be, and it helps that from the hill the freeway saves nothing. East Hill Street and Atlantic, or Orange Avenue, land within a minute of the 405 route, so if surface streets are more manageable you lose nothing by taking them. If the driving is itself the symptom rather than the obstacle, take the first appointment by video and let that be part of what we look at. ## Ten minutes down the hill Request a time online and a real person confirms it. In person or by secure video, whichever suits the week. [Request an appointment](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/book/)[Call (818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862)