One of first children's EmPATH units in nation opens at MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital

MUSC Health in Charleston is launching EmPATH units to help Emergency Department patients suffering from behavioral health crises get streamlined care in calm environments. That includes an EmPATH unit in the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital.

 

“It is, to our knowledge, the first pediatric EmPATH unit in the nation,” said Rob DuPont, mental health system administrator at MUSC Health.The need is clear. “We see, on average, well over 100 kids in the pediatric ED per month who are coming in for behavioral health needs,” DuPont said.

There will also be an EmPATH unit for adults through the Emergency Department of the MUSC University Hospital in downtown Charleston. It, too, sees a substantial number of patients dealing with psychiatric crises – more than 300 per month.

EmPATH stands for Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing. It’s a short-term way to assess, treat and stabilize people. DuPont said it’s important to note that EmPATH is not a long-term care facility and is not the right place for people who are intoxicated and/or need to detox. Its focus is on immediate care such as medication management, therapy and prevention of crisis escalation.

When a patient in a behavioral health crisis comes to an Emergency Department that has access to an EmPATH unit, the visit starts with a medical screening. “We need to make sure that there's not a medical need that takes priority over any behavioral health need at that time,” DuPont said.

 

If there isn’t, the patient may be transferred to the EmPATH unit and see a psychiatric health care provider, ideally within an hour of that transfer. “It gets people out of the Emergency Department very quickly. If someone's coming in in a behavioral health crisis, the worst place to be is a medical ED. It's loud; it's hectic,” DuPont said. 

“EmPATH has a calming, open, therapeutic environment. You can walk around. Part of the whole model is being able to engage with peers, engage with staff and be able to quickly address why they're there and then make a plan around that.”

DuPont said people may not be transferred to EmPATH if they have an acute medical issue such as an infectious disease or a psychiatric diagnosis that isn’t a good fit for the unit. “It has shared spaces, shared bathrooms. So we have to be mindful of those kinds of things,” DuPont said.

 

The EmPATH units are part of a larger effort by MUSC Health to expand behavioral health care across the state. The MUSC Health Jean and Hugh K. Leatherman Behavioral Care Pavilion is scheduled to open later this year in Florence. It will serve the Pee Dee region with triage, EmPATH units, telehealth and both outpatient and inpatient services. MUSC Health is also expanding its school-based mental health services and testing the use of telehealth to meet rural South Carolinians’ behavioral health needs.

“We need to be leading the way in behavioral health. We're not just thinking about Charleston hospitals. We're really thinking about it as a statewide initiative,” DuPont said. “Where do we have hospitals? Where do we have outpatient services? How do we manage the needs that we see in our Emergency Departments from a system level and really create that full continuum of care?” 

EmPATH units are one answer. “We recognize the need for increased behavioral health services for pediatrics and adults. We are working to address that with increasing such services. And here's another large step in creating a dedicated space within our children's hospital to work with individuals coming in with behavioral health needs, and that we're continuing to address the needs as we see them in our communities,” DuPont said.

“We continue to add services to address the needs that are identified in our region and across the state for behavioral health.”