CHESAPEAKE, Va. —
The new psychiatric emergency room at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center will specialize in mental health care.
The Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) is going to transform mental health care in the second-largest city in the Commonwealth. The new facility will provide people in a mental health crisis with a dedicated space to receive care separate from the emergency room.
“The care environment in treating mental health patients is critical as part of their healing,” Chief Nurse and Operating Officer Amber Egyud said.
Egyud says the program being built will allow staff to provide a continuum of care for behavioral health patients in crisis. The program will be housed in a renovated area of the emergency room. When complete, the area will have 20 beds for inpatient care and intensive outpatient programs.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia, John Littel, and Commissioner Nelson Smith of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services spoke about the $3.7 million grant awarded to the hospital at a press conference this afternoon.
"The reality is when we need outpatient services, Chesapeake has stepped up on it. When we talked about having an inpatient. Chesapeake has stepped up on it," Littel said.
The grant is part of Governor Younkin’s commitment to investing in and reforming Virginia’s current behavioral health system. It follows a visit he made to Chesapeake Regional last October to learn more about the health system’s plans to build a behavioral health program at the hospital.