Penn Medicine’s Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital opened a crisis walk-in center that provides immediate behavioral health assessments and treatments.
The behavioral health center expects to serve 900 patients annually for interventional psychiatry and 10,000 patients through the walk-in center, both in-person and over the phone, according to a March 13article published on the American Hospital Association website.
When a patient enters the clinic, they are greeted by a certified peer support specialist and connected to a registered nurse for a physical examination. If needed, they can receive immediate counseling and be referred to the next level of care. The interventional psychiatry program focuses on conditions that do not respond well to first-line treatments.
The center will treat patients for up to 30 days before referring them to longer-term services.
