A new option for people experiencing behavioral health crises in the Pee Dee region offers an alternative to busy emergency departments. They can now get immediate care in a calm, welcoming environment. That’s the idea behind the adolescent and adult EmPATH units in the MUSC Health Leatherman Behavioral Care Pavilion in Florence.
“EmPATH is emergency psychiatric, assessment, treatment and healing, basically crisis stabilization,” said Elizabeth Crowley, executive director of the pavilion.
“We want patients to know that if they’re experiencing a behavioral health crisis and not experiencing other physical concerns that would require an emergency department, they can come right to Leatherman, and we can assess them here.”
Empathetic approach
EmPATH units, like the name suggests, take an empathetic approach to helping patients.
“In an EmPATH unit, you’re immediately met with a mental health professional. We do a psych assessment and review what the best next step is for you. Do you need inpatient care? Can we stabilize the crisis so you can go home? Do you need intensive outpatient care? We want to change the culture in our community around not having to go to the Emergency Department when you’re having a behavioral health concern,” Crowley said.
Environment
An EmPATH unit definitely has a different look from an emergency department. The units in Florence, like those in the MUSC University Medical Center and the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, prioritize patients’ comfort.
“Our EmPATH spaces were designed to be a calm and healing environment. We have beautiful artwork, calming colors, group therapy and activity rooms and common areas with refreshments and entertainment. We also have patient rooms in case you need to stay overnight. It’s a therapeutic and better healing environment for patients – a quieter environment with reduced stimulation and increased privacy and dignity,” Crowley said.
Logistics
That quieter environment in the Florence EmPATH unit does not require a referral to access it. “Anyone can walk right into our building Monday through Friday during business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We can take you right into our intake space and assess where you need to go on campus. If it’s after hours, they will have to go to the Emergency Department, but they could then transfer to us,” Crowley said.
Conditions
She described some of the conditions that are a good fit for EmPATH. “Someone enduring symptoms or at-risk behaviors related to depression, mania, suicidal ideation, psychosis, medication noncompliance, mood and personality disorders. Or their family members could have concerns about them because they’re not acting normally.”
The pavilion
The EmPATH units are part of a larger effort at the Leatherman Pavilion, which has been open for about a year, to meet the region’s behavioral health needs. It offers not only crisis stabilization but also telehealth, along with inpatient and outpatient services for young people and adults.
Having all of that in one place in the Pee Dee makes it easier for people to get the range of care they need, Crowley said. “I think it shows the importance of putting an emphasis on behavioral health needs and addressing them quickly. That just hasn’t been there in the past.”
