Cherry Hill Hospital To Develop Region's First-Of-Its-Kind Crisis Treatment Facility

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital will develop a facility that provides a calmer environment for patients experiencing a mental health crisis.

Nearly 1 in 5 people seeking treatment at the hospital's emergency department — Camden County's designated crisis center — are doing so for mental or behavioral health needs such as suicide attempts, trauma and substance use disorders. But the busy environment of a hospital emergency room could exacerbate those symptoms.

However, Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital received a $4 million state grant to develop the EmPATH care model (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing).

The funding will support a 4,000-square-foot EmPATH facility, where patients experiencing a mental or behavioral crisis can meet with mental health specialists in a calming, living room-style environment.

The facility is expected to be completed in 2027, according to Jefferson Health.

Specialists in the facility will include psychiatrists and licensed therapists. Professionals will address each crisis and then develop a plan to address future triggering events, including coordination with other medical services to reduce care gaps.

Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital will be South Jersey's first health care system to implement the EmPATH model, according to Jefferson Health.

"At Jefferson, we see the challenges that behavioral health needs and substance use disorders are creating in the communities we serve," said Aaron Chang, president of Jefferson Health-East. "By adopting the EmPATH model, Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital can immediately begin working with patients in crisis to address their crisis and then match them with providers in their community so they can continue their care at home, instead of in a hospital."

Funding comes from the New Jersey Department of Health.