Emergency/Crisis Service

The Emergency/Crisis Service is based in the UConn John Dempsey Hospital Emergency Department where it serves as the gateway to all levels of psychiatric care within the UConn Health psychiatric system. It is a 24-hour-a-day assessment and intervention service staffed by psychiatrists, nurses, and crisis clinicians.

Once a patient is assessed, a decision is made to either admit the patient or refer the patient out to an appropriate service. That service may either be an outpatient provider or another more appropriate inpatient setting. It should be noted that our Inpatient Psychiatric Unit treats adults only. Patients are admitted with a full spectrum of mental illnesses, including mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders. Inpatient geropsychiatric services and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) services are available. Alcohol detoxification protocols are utilized with full medical back-up. When clinically appropriate, mild opiate detoxifications and mild benzodiazepine detoxes are considered for admission.

Every effort is made to assist our community with its psychiatric needs, and we welcome the opportunity to participate in any way that we can. Unfortunately, we cannot renew medications or provide pain management in the emergency room setting.