Hospitals and health systems are rethinking how and where they deliver behavioral healthcare. From emergency department alternatives to school partnerships and integrated specialty care, system leaders are focused on earlier interventions and more therapeutic environments for patients of all ages.
- EmPATH units
Leaders have turned to emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment and healing, or EmPATH, units, to triage behavioral health patients away from chaotic emergency departments and into more therapeutic spaces.
Several health systems in the U.S. are investing in these units to combat overflowing emergency departments where wait times can reach hours, or even days, in some cases.
The need for such units had long been recognized, as around 70% to 80% of patients who would require inpatient hospitalization at an emergency department are able to be stabilized and discharged after 24 hours, Scott Zeller, MD, former head of psychiatric emergency services at Oakland, Calif.-based Alameda Health System, told Becker’s in 2012.
Lately, however, system leaders seem to believe the time for EmPATH units has come. In November 2024, Inova Fairfax (Va.) Hospital opened an EmPATH unit, and in March 2025, Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Health said it had opened the nation’s first pediatric EmPATH unit.
- School-based services
Children spend a majority of their time in schools. As such, leaders have turned to school-based mental health services to expand access in communities amid the ongoing youth mental health crisis.
New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has partnered with school districts to create a model that focuses on three components: building resilience for teachers, parents and students through education; screening for early recognition while providing immediate access to services; and connecting students to continuous mental health support.
“When you break it down to the specific districts … the numbers have significantly decreased — an average of 60% consistently … through the openings of the centers and the new districts joining,” Vera Feuer, MD, child and adolescent psychiatrist and program director for Northwell’s School Mental Health partnerships, told Becker’s, referring to a decrease in emergency department visits for students with psychiatric-related concerns. “Despite the national, significant increase, our ER volume from those districts stayed the same or decreased a little bit.”
The program has grown from 55 to more than 70 school districts — reaching roughly 275,000 students — with the goal of making immediate psychiatry care as accessible as a school counselor’s referral
- Behavioral health in specialties
Health systems are investing in behavioral health from the bottom up and introducing behavioral health professionals to acute care settings such as surgery.
Aurora-based Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Center for Children’s Surgery embeds psychosocial providers — psychologists, social workers and child-life specialists — into select surgical teams with the aim of reducing mental strain of surgical procedures on children.
Although behavioral health is not traditionally seen as a moneymaker, system leaders have found value in treating patients upstream.
“Ultimately, our goal is to have a comprehensive behavioral health team on every single one of our surgical subspecialty teams so that we can do this proactive, preventative work and support kids along their journey, during their surgical recovery,” Cindy Buchanan, PhD, director of surgical psychology and behavioral health, said.
