For someone in a mental health crisis, getting to an emergency room does not always mean getting relief.
The wait can make anxiety worse, said Jennifer Royal, a crisis intervention specialist with the Newport News Fire Department.
Before Riverside opened a psychiatric emergency department in Hampton in 2023, her team took people who needed emergency hospital care to Riverside Regional Medical Center’s medical ER, where Royal said the wait could add to their distress.
“Having Riverside Psych opened an avenue to where we could take them directly to seek care, whether it's mental health, substance abuse, outpatient medication management,” Royal said. “It just opened a door for wraparound services all in one.”
Royal said the change not only helped patients reach specialized care sooner, but also reduced the time police officers spend waiting with them, which could tie officers up for hours.
The emergency psychiatric department opened as Virginia was expanding its behavioral health crisis system. The state’s Right Help, Right Now initiative and Marcus Alert have added crisis-response options, including the 988 hotline, mobile crisis teams and coordination between behavioral health providers and public safety agencies.
It’s Virginia’s first freestanding such department. It operates around the clock and treats adults and children ages 5 and older.
Since opening, the department has recorded more than 16,000 visits. Royal said her team was dispatched to nearly 1,500 calls last year and took people to Riverside’s psychiatric ER on about 250 of those calls.
Stacey Johnson, the center’s former president and now president of Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg, said a quieter environment and mental health professionals available around the clock can help staff assess patients and connect them with appropriate care.
“You've got all the experts, just like if you were a cancer patient, you would want oncology experts to be the ones treating you,” Johnson said.
The difference begins with the setting. Instead of the noise and activity of a typical emergency room, the space includes recliners, sensory rooms and enclosed outdoor areas designed to help patients calm down.
Jack Field, president of Riverside Mental Health and Recovery Center, said patients spent more than 10 hours in an ER on average before the department opened. That is now down to about six hours and 20 minutes.
A separate change involves the evaluations used to determine whether someone meets the legal criteria for temporary involuntary treatment.
A 2024 state pilot allows certified hospital staff in Hampton to assess whether adults meet the criteria. Previously, those assessments were handled by community services boards, the local agencies that provide public behavioral health services.
Johnson said Riverside’s certified therapists can conduct the assessments, including speaking with family members and other providers to understand a patient’s condition.
She described the department’s approach as connecting people with the care they need, which may include outpatient treatment, medication management or a conversation with a peer recovery specialist.
“Our goal is always to provide treatment in the least restrictive environment,” Johnson said.
