New York City-based NYU Langone Health opened a psychiatric emergency unit in Brooklyn, expanding its capacity to treat patients in behavioral health crises and connect them with hospital- and community-based care.
The new Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn spans 2,700 square feet beside the emergency department. It has more than a dozen patient care positions for psychiatric evaluation, treatment and observation, according to an Oct. 21 news release from the system.
The unit includes extended observation beds, individual patient rooms and a calming room. Patients who need additional psychiatric care may be admitted to the hospital’s 35-bed inpatient unit.
NYU Langone is also adding space for its mobile crisis team in a building across from the hospital. The team primarily responds to behavioral health emergencies in community settings, providing assessments and short-term care. The expansion complements a recently opened outpatient behavioral health clinic at Augustana Family Health Center at NYU Langone, which has 20 individual offices and is projected to serve approximately 1,200 patients annually.
The system is also expanding its behavioral health workforce through the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone Psychiatry Residency program, which recently graduated its first class of three residents. The four-year program trains psychiatrists to provide care in community settings.
The Family Health Centers at NYU Langone network delivers more than 165,000 mental health visits annually, with behavioral health encounters more than doubling over the past 10 years. Its behavioral health services also reach patients at 36 schools and shelters.
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