Mississippi Business Journal
UMMC Opens New Psychiatric Emergency Services Unit
MBJ
Through a collaborative effort between the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, the University of Mississippi Medical Center has opened a dedicated unit within its adult Emergency Department to better serve psychiatric patients.
“This new unit is specifically designed similarly to other behavioral health units, to enhance safety for both patients and staff,” said Sherry Riser, Nursing Director of the Adult Emergency Department. “It supports a more intentional and clinically appropriate approach to the care of our psychiatric population.”
This expansion of services at UMMC was made possible through a federal appropriation championed by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
The unit includes seven treatment spaces, with five beds designated for patient care and two additional seclusion rooms to provide a secure setting when needed. The layout allows care teams to treat psychiatric patients in a separate, controlled area of the ED, improving workflow and patient experience.
Dr. Kendall McKenzie, Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, said the updates equip the space to better handle the increasing number of psychiatric patients seeking care.
“The original setup wasn’t built to accommodate psychiatric patients with unique requirements or to maximize safety,” said McKenzie. “The new unit expands our ability to care for these patients in a dedicated, isolated area within the emergency department.”
The addition brings UMMC in line with larger metropolitan hospitals that offer specialized psychiatric emergency services, a level of care not commonly found in emergency departments across Mississippi.