Vituity Enhances Emergency Care with Innovative EmPATH Units

Emeryville, CA (May 10, 2024) — Vituity is proud to announce significant strides in emergency healthcare through the expanded adoption of Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing (EmPATH) units, recently backed by over $90 million in contracts and grants. These innovative units launched in health systems in 2016 have revolutionized emergency room operations, offering specialized care and improving patient outcomes.

Dr. Scott Zeller, a leading figure in psychiatric emergency services and original developer of the EmPATH model, highlights the transformative impact of EmPATH units in addressing the critical needs within emergency care settings. “EmPATH units represent a leap forward in treating psychiatric emergencies, providing immediate, comprehensive care in a supportive environment, reducing the strain on emergency departments, and improving patient pathways,” says Dr. Zeller.

With successful rollouts in various states, including a significant partnership in California, Vituity’s EmPATH units have become a model for emergency psychiatric care nationwide. These units are designed to offer a therapeutic environment where patients can receive specialized assessment and treatment more efficiently and compassionately than in traditional emergency room settings.

Kimberly Lopez, Vituity’s Director of Practice Operations, emphasizes the broader implications of EmPATH units, “Our goal is not just to innovate emergency psychiatric care, but to integrate these units as a standard in hospitals, enhancing the overall structure of emergency healthcare.”

Vituity's EmPATH units originated from a need to improve how emergency departments handle psychiatric emergencies. Recognizing the limitations of traditional ER settings for psychiatric care, Dr. Zeller developed the EmPATH model to provide a specialized, calming environment where patients can receive immediate, comprehensive psychiatric assessment and treatment. Since the first EmPATH unit opened in 2016, many units have opened across the USA and Canada, with units now planned in countries such as Singapore, Scotland, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and South Africa.

In the past year, the State of California gave out $40 million in grants to eleven hospitals across the state specifically to build EmPATH units. This was soon followed by the State of South Carolina, which awarded nearly $50 million to thirteen hospitals in their state, again to create EmPATH units. Several other states are now close to their own major EmPATH unit grant programs.

As Vituity continues to lead in healthcare innovation, the success of EmPATH units underscores the organization's commitment to advancing care and addressing the evolving needs of the communities it serves. The initiative is a testament to Vituity's mission to provide exceptional care and positively impact every life they touch.

For more information about Vituity and its pioneering EmPATH units, please visit: /https://www,vituity.com/healthcare-services/psychiatry/empath-units/.

About Vituity

For nearly 50 years, Vituity has been a catalyst for positive change in healthcare. As a physician-led and -owned multispecialty partnership with a nationwide footprint, 5,000 Vituity clinicians working across nine acute care specialties care for more than 8.7 million patients annually.

Vituity’s acute focus and compassionate care are the driving forces that place us at the heart of better care. Our clinicians and practice management leaders develop front-line solutions for healthcare challenges that improve quality and have a direct, positive impact on millions of lives nationwide.

Our services span the entire acute care continuum, integrating emergency medicine, hospital medicine, critical care, anesthesiology, acute psychiatry, neurology, acute care surgery, telehealth, post-acute care, and outpatient medicine. Partnering with hospitals, health systems, clinics, payers, employers, and state and local government, our footprint continues to rapidly expand. Learn more a vituity.com.

Partnering to improve patient lives

Vituity branding with wave pattern footer