CLEVELAND, Ohio — Two years after the opening of MetroHealth System Cleveland Heights Behavioral Health Hospital, its services are expanding with the addition of a psychiatric emergency department in Cleveland Heights.
The new psychiatric emergency department, which opened earlier this month, is part of a Severance Circle complex that includes the $42 million Behavioral Health Hospital and the existing MetroHealth Cleveland Heights Medical Center in Cleveland Heights.
The goal is to keep behavioral health cases out of overburdened medical emergency departments, and restore services that were lost when St. Vincent Charity Medical Center stopped offering psychiatric emergency department services in June 2024, said Jane Granzier, director of crisis emergency services at MetroHealth.
The new department, staffed by behavioral health specialists, treats people who might be suicidal, having hallucinations, struggling with psychosis, or substance-induced psychosis or other behavioral health issues.
“It’s an opportunity to really provide quality, compassionate care to folks with behavioral health issues in a way that is not traumatizing, and is respectful,” Granzier said.
The department evaluates patients who walk in or are sent for an evaluation to determine the most appropriate level of care, Granzier said.
Staff in a dedicated psychiatric emergency department are trained to calm patients, and patient rooms are designed to make it nearly impossible for patients to harm themselves. The hustle and bustle of a regular emergency department, as it copes with gunshot victims, accidents and other trauma, can be distressing for a person in a mental health crisis, health experts said.
Patients seen at the psychiatric emergency room can be admitted to the MetroHealth Behavioral Health Hospital if they are over 18, she said. Emergency room patients also can be referred to other behavioral health services in the community, she said.
“We are advocating for them in a way that will lead to better care,” Granzier said.
A portion of the MetroHeath’s Medical Center medical emergency department was retrofitted to be a psychiatric emergency department, which can care for 13 patients, she said.
MetroHealth’s psychiatric emergency department originally was slated to open shortly after the behavioral health hospital opened in 2022. The health system did not say why the opening was delayed.
MetroHealth’s psychiatric emergency department is one of the few facilities of its kind in the state. Few hospitals have these departments because of the cost, such as having a specialized staff available around the clock, health experts said.
Behavioral health workers in the Cleveland area are seeing increasing numbers of adults and teens who go to regular emergency departments seeking psychiatric care, Granzier said.
About 40% of the patients in any emergency department at any given time might be there for mental health reasons, but they are prioritized below patients having a heart attack or stroke, she said.
“Just because of the nature of their mental health issues, they are being assessed last and that’s not to take anything away from emergency departments; they’re doing what they have to do,” Granzier said. “But it’s hard on emergency department staff. It’s hard on the patients.”
Almost 6 million emergency department visits for mental, behavioral and brain disorders as the primary diagnosis occurred in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MetroHealth worked closely with the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County to open the psychiatric emergency department, MetroHealth said. The ADAMHS board is responsible for the planning, funding and monitoring of public mental health and addiction treatment and recovery services in the county.
MetroHealth came under pressure to offer more mental health services when St. Vincent Charity Medical Center stopped offering that type of care.
St. Vincent, located just south of downtown Cleveland, stopped offering inpatient care in November 2022, but kept its psychiatric emergency department open until June 2024. The hospital also changed its name to St. Vincent Charity Community Health Center about that time.
St. Vincent’s psychiatric emergency department, staffed by caregivers specialized in psychiatric assessment and counseling, served about 3,000 patients annually, hospital officials said.
Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.