Dedicated spaces for emergency mental health patients coming online in Virginia
In brief: Some Virginia emergency departments are moving to create spaces within EDs, or separate of them entirely, that are specifically made — in design, and in resources — for psychiatric and behavioral health patients. The goal is to give these patients a more appropriate setting for care, reduce ED boarding, and get patients the help they need, faster.
Centra Health’s Lynchburg General Hospital opened EmPATH, a calming space where psychiatric and behavioral health patients can be assessed and treated.
ACEP’s position on psych patients in the ED: All patients deserve access to emergency care for psychiatric emergencies. Emergency departments are a critical component of a comprehensive safety net for patients with psychiatric and behavior health emergencies, and emergency physicians have an obligation to advocate for high-quality psychiatric emergency care.
However: the reality is the often chaotic and noisy ED is not the best place for patients struggling with psychiatric or mental health issues. The lack of, or long delays for, available beds at state psychiatric hospitals then contributes to an issue where the patient remains in the ED for long periods of time, and are sometimes released without treatment.
In Virginia: This month, Centra Health in Lynchburg opened EmPATH, a calming space where psychiatric and behavioral health patients can be assessed and treated. Backed by a $1 million anonymous gift, the unit is located within the ED at Lynchburg General Hospital and offers compassionate, holistic help with the goal of returning patients safely to their homes with the support of outpatient services, families, and community resources. The hope is the unit leads to calmer patients, shorter stays, reduced hospital admissions, more available beds and resources for physical emergencies, and better experiences and safer emergency departments for patients and staff alike.
Riverside Health System will soon open a dedicated psychiatric ED this year on its Behavioral Health Center campus in Hampton.
Spaces like these are “a community-focused way to help get mental health patients the care they need, faster, in a more serene environment," says Aimee Seibert, VACEP's government affairs lead.
Elsewhere: In Roanoke, Carilion Clinic has a dedicated psychiatric ED. Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Services (CPEP) is a 24/7 hospital-based emergency psychiatric program to help patients in a mental health crisis. The care team includes a psychiatrist on call at all times, plus emergency medicine physicians and staff, nurses, social workers, psychiatric techs and licensed professional counselors. The team determines a treatment plan which may include a psychiatric evaluation and treatment including med management, social work assessment, behavioral skills education, access to individual and group therapy, referral to community resources and inpatient psychiatric care at Carilion Clinic or another facility.
Here's more on Centra's EmPATH and Riverside's psych ED.
