Karen Teitelbaum has been president and CEO of Chicago-based Sinai Health System since 2014, and under her leadership the system became home to the city's first ever crisis stabilization unit.
The psychiatric observation CSU at Sinai's Holy Cross Hospital opened in 2016 and started off accommodating up to 12 patients at a time. The unit plays a unique role in Chicago's healthcare and criminal justice ecosystem, as it diverts patients with behavioral health problems from the emergency department into a setting more amenable to their unique needs. The unit is staffed with psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners, licensed social workers and other mental health workers.
Not only does the CSU allow patients with behavioral health needs to access treatment more quickly, but it serves as a vital safe haven. Law enforcement officers can divert those struggling with mental health issues to Sinai's unit, sparing them from unnecessary entry into the criminal justice system.
[For more on this story by Leo Vartorella, go to https://www.beckershospitalrev...rvention-system.html
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