By HFT Staff

The UK HealthCare EmPATH  (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing) Psychiatric Unit is the first of its kind in Kentucky.  

Currently, there are only about 30 EmPATH units in the U.S. UK HealthCare and New Vista have collaborated with leadership from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to bring this new model of emergency behavioral healthcare to Kentucky. 

EmPATH units are carefully designed physical environments that help patients experiencing an acute mental health issue receive immediate support. Instead of individual treatment rooms, the units are wide open spaces with comfortable seating.  

At roughly 11,000 square feet, UK HealthCare’s EmPATH Psychiatric Unit has room for up to 12 patients at a time. Providers and support staff will regularly assess the individual’s symptoms and develop a care plan, which could include a treatment plan and discharge home with connection to appropriate outpatient services, or admittance as an inpatient for round-the-clock care. 

The EmPATH unit is part of UK HealthCare and will have its own separate entrance at Eastern State Hospital’s campus. Eastern State Hospital is owned by the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities and managed by UK HealthCare. It operates 195 acute care beds and provides critical, recovery-focused psychiatric care for adults from a 50-county region of the state.