A $1 million gift from The Hewitt Foundation has enabled the establishment of Connecticut’s first Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing (EmPATH) Unit at Griffin Hospital in Derby.
This pioneering unit represents a bold step forward in addressing the growing demand for mental health crisis services, offering specialized help to Connecticut residents in desperate need of specialized care. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 41% of adults in Connecticut have experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression, while 121,000 adults are living with serious mental illness.
“The Hewitt Foundation is honored to support Griffin’s pioneering efforts in behavioral health crisis care,” said Harry P. DiAdamo, treasurer of the Hewitt Foundation. “We encourage individuals, foundations, and businesses to join us in making this vision a reality and in ensuring a healthier future for those desperately in need of focused and compassionate help.”
With a shortage of behavioral health services statewide, individuals in emotional crisis are often brought to hospital emergency departments (EDs) by crisis centers, law enforcement, and well-meaning family members. However, EDs are limited in their ability to provide the therapeutic care required, leaving many without the specialized support they urgently need.
“Over the past three years, mental health crisis cases at Griffin Hospital’s Emergency Department have surged by 50%, with one in seven patients seeking crisis care,” said Maria Dawe, MD, Chair of the Griffin Health Psychiatry Department. “This influx not only overwhelms our capacity – it delays care for all patients.
“The EmPATH Unit will expand services for community members in psychiatric crisis with a compassionate, dignified and patient-focused approach in a specially designed and reserved environment. This approach exclusively focuses on improving and expediting positive outcomes.”
An EmPATH Unit represents a new approach in behavioral healthcare, offering a calming therapeutic space for patients in emotional crisis. Unlike traditional EDs, this unit prioritizes rapid, personalized care in a soothing 4,300 square-foot environment that includes a large, open common space with high ceilings, natural light, exterior views and soothing décor. Staffed by psychiatrists, social workers, and trained nurses, the EmPATH Unit will feature sensory rooms with patient-controlled lighting and music, which will act as a safe space to help regulate emotions, tables for socializing, a nourishment station for snacks, shower room, and physician consultation and family rooms for visitors.
The evidence for this approach is compelling. Similar pioneering units across the country have stabilized 75% of patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies in less than 24 hours, reducing the need for hospitalization, and decreased crisis readmissions by 25%, all while eliminating many of the traumatic aspects of traditional emergency psychiatric care.
Recognition Opportunities for Visionary Donors
Additional support is needed to fully realize Griffin’s transformative vision. By joining this effort, donors have a rare opportunity to be part of a revolutionary approach to mental health care that will serve as a model throughout Connecticut and beyond. Donors will also have a special opportunity to be recognized within this innovative space through naming options, including the main treatment area and individual healing rooms.
To view an insightful video and learn more about the EmPATH Unit as well as naming opportunities, visit griffinhealth.org/supportempath or contact Griffin Hospital Development Fund Executive Director Kristy Jelenik at kjelenik@griffinhealth.org or 203-732-7539.