The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has announced a $2.5 million grant to the Sheridan Memorial Hospital (SMH) in Sheridan, Wyoming, in support of innovative behavioral healthcare services.

The grant will help fund an EmPATH (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing) unit and a crisis stabilization unit within the hospital’s Behavioral Health Unit. The facility, which serves the north central Wyoming region, will offer walk-in behavioral health urgent care, a crisis stabilization area, eight adult inpatient psychiatric beds, two pediatric psychiatric beds, and therapy space.

According to the foundation, Wyoming faces a critical need for timely and effective psychiatric treatment for people with mental health and substance abuse disorders that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The state is also confronting a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds and of trained professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, and social workers.

“The ability to implement this unique model of care comes at a time when we see more and more patients seeking crisis-level help for mental health issues,” said SMH chief medical officer Luke Goddard. “The EmPATH and Crisis Stabilization Unit will make it possible for us to provide more focused care during a time of crisis.”

“This will be a space dedicated to people with mental health concerns, into which we can pull together a network of support and resources,” said SMH chief executive Mike McCafferty. “With the opening of the Behavioral Health Unit, we will be able to offer a space designed specifically to allow room for patients to receive care with dignity.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Courtney Hale)