Editor’s Note: In June, the Barton Blog featured a series of articles highlighting New Trends in Emergency Psychiatry . We recently heard from a prospective client who said her facility was participating in an exciting new program that will improve access to emergency psychiatric services in her area. Family & Children’s Services, Hillcrest Medical Center, and Tulsa (OK) Center for Behavioral Health have teamed up to provide additional mental health services to individuals in Tulsa. 
The partnership will add 16 permanent psychiatric beds to Hillcrest Medical Center’s behavioral health unit and establish a psychiatric crisis stabilization center. Both measures will greatly improve the city’s ability to care for area-residents that undergo a mental health crisis. According to public officials and hospital leaders, Tulsa doesn’t currently have the resources to meet the demands of its mental health population. The situation has put a strain on healthcare providers and law enforcement. Without proper outpatient services to care for mental health crises, many patients are placed in inpatient care. When the 56 inpatient psychiatric beds in the Tulsa-area are full, police are required to transport patients to other facilities in the state, which can sometimes be hundreds of miles away. The 16 additional beds will certainly decrease the frequency of those trips, and the psychiatric crisis stabilization center will decrease the number of psychiatric inpatient admissions. “We come into contact with so many people who don’t need ‘hospitalization,’ they just need some stabilization. Officers have nowhere to take people for that, so they end up in a hospital bed. This outpatient crisis unit is perfect for those individuals. The unit and the increased number of beds will cut down on the number of transports officers make out of the area,” said Tulsa Police Major Tracie Lewis. Furthermore, the psychiatric crisis stabilization will also provide relief for Tulsa hospitals, freeing up inpatient beds for other patients and reducing ED wait times. A study published by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that psychiatric patients spend an average of 11.5 hours boarded in the ED.
The partnership will add 16 permanent psychiatric beds to Hillcrest Medical Center’s behavioral health unit and establish a psychiatric crisis stabilization center. Both measures will greatly improve the city’s ability to care for area-residents that undergo a mental health crisis. According to public officials and hospital leaders, Tulsa doesn’t currently have the resources to meet the demands of its mental health population. The situation has put a strain on healthcare providers and law enforcement. Without proper outpatient services to care for mental health crises, many patients are placed in inpatient care. When the 56 inpatient psychiatric beds in the Tulsa-area are full, police are required to transport patients to other facilities in the state, which can sometimes be hundreds of miles away. The 16 additional beds will certainly decrease the frequency of those trips, and the psychiatric crisis stabilization center will decrease the number of psychiatric inpatient admissions. “We come into contact with so many people who don’t need ‘hospitalization,’ they just need some stabilization. Officers have nowhere to take people for that, so they end up in a hospital bed. This outpatient crisis unit is perfect for those individuals. The unit and the increased number of beds will cut down on the number of transports officers make out of the area,” said Tulsa Police Major Tracie Lewis. Furthermore, the psychiatric crisis stabilization will also provide relief for Tulsa hospitals, freeing up inpatient beds for other patients and reducing ED wait times. A study published by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) found that psychiatric patients spend an average of 11.5 hours boarded in the ED.
