University of Kentucky HealthCare based in Lexington opened an Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing (EmPATH) unit in July 2024 to treat behavioral health patients outside its emergency departments — a design choice that differs from many models nationally. The…
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Detroit-based Henry Ford Health’s Same-Day Solutions Ambulatory Pilot Program increased the number of patients who completed a behavioral health appointment after being referred for care by 50% at pilot sites. The program, launched in July 2025, connects patients who express…
Connecticut hospitals are expanding behavioral health emergency services with new dedicated treatment units designed to reduce emergency department boarding and improve access to crisis care for adults and children, according to a July 29 report from the Hartford Courant. The…
In August 2026, Stamford (Conn.) Health is opening the Bennett Child & Adolescent EmPATH Unit and PATHways Program located within the Stamford Hospital Emergency Department to expand behavioral health services for children and adolescents in Fairfield County. The Carl &…
California’s new emergency nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for acute psychiatric hospitals took effect June 1, closing a regulatory gap that had left freestanding psychiatric facilities without mandated minimums for more than two decades. But leaders are raising concerns about behavioral healthcare…
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The Medical University of South Carolina opened its adult emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment and healing unit — known as EmPATH — in Charleston in July 2025 with eight bays. For the first six months, daily utilization sat around 12%. It…
Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare built a program to screen children who may have autism spectrum disorder and need an earlier evaluation, using referrals from primary care rather than requiring families to navigate a separate developmental pediatrics system on their own.…
Across the country, behavioral health leaders are redrawing the blueprint for care — smoothing patient access, merging mental and physical health under one roof, and using AI to route patients before a crisis ever reaches the emergency room. Becker’s asked…
With the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline approaching its fourth anniversary and states expanding crisis response infrastructure, healthcare leaders are increasingly focused on building systems that can provide specialized care while easing pressure on hospitals, law enforcement and psychiatric facilities.…
The California Department of Public Health has approved temporary rule waivers for 23 hospitals after a nurse-patient ratio rule went into effect June 1, Mercury News reported June 29. The new regulations require 35 psychiatric hospitals to assign one nurse…