MetroHealth will close its psychiatric emergency department at Cleveland Heights Medical Center at the end of the year, the health system announced Friday.
The 35 employees will be reassigned, and the system plans to integrate behavioral health services into primary care and expand its main campus emergency department to include an inpatient psychiatric unit — though fundraising for that project is still in progress.
MetroHealth said the closure is intended to avoid duplicating services offered by a new behavioral health crisis center on the former St. Vincent Charity campus, operated by The Centers, which is scheduled to open next fall. The decision also follows the diversion of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board funding, which previously supported the Cleveland Heights psychiatric ED, to the new crisis center.
The Centers’ crisis center will include behavioral health, urgent care and inpatient services, though patients with certain medical conditions may need to transfer to nearby hospitals.
Currently, there are four behavioral health urgent care centers in Cuyahoga County, including The Centers in Cleveland and OhioGuidestone locations in Cleveland, Berea, and Euclid.
MetroHealth said it will continue to see psychiatric patients in its other emergency departments.
County officials pushed back on MetroHealth’s framing of the closure following the announcement.
“This is an internal operational and financial decision made by MetroHealth leadership,” said county spokesperson Kelly Woodard.
She added that MetroHealth had previously acknowledged its psychiatric ED model was struggling financially and operationally, and that the county remains focused on strengthening behavioral health services across multiple providers.
Cuyahoga County Councilmember Michael Gallagher told Ideastream he's concerned a potential risk of closing the psych ED would delay care for patients whose psychiatric symptoms mask physical illnesses.
“These people cavalierly say, ‘Oh well, if they come in, we do a triage on them and if we realize they need further help we’ll just take them down to Metro,'" he said. "Somebody’s going to die."
A recent National Institutes of Health study found emergency room doctors and mental health providers agreed there's a greater risk of missing underlying medical problems when patients are seen outside a traditional ED.
The ADAMHS Board, in a statement, said its priority is ensuring individuals in crisis receive the help they need.
