Crisis Stabilization Unit

For people in the midst of a behavioral health crisis, a busy hospital emergency department is not the ideal place for care.

Thanks to generous community donations to the “Any Day. Any Time. Every One” campaign and a grant from Warren County through the American Rescue Plan Act, Glens Falls Hospital is now far better prepared to help those patients.

The campaign donations and grant enabled the hospital to create its Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU), a dedicated part of the Sheridan Emergency Department specially designed and staffed for people of all ages with behavioral health emergencies. The 13-room CSU opened in March 2025, with eight rooms for adolescents and children, and five for adults.

Patients who arrive at the Emergency Department in a behavioral health crisis are first examined and treated for any medical illnesses or injuries and then taken to the adjoining CSU where they begin their behavioral health evaluation, treatment and therapy.

Adults found to be in need of longer-term inpatient evaluation and therapy are seamlessly moved to the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit, which also adjoins the CSU.

Adolescents and children in need of longer-term, specialized pediatric care remain in the CSU under the hospital’s care until an opening becomes available in an appropriate residential treatment program or they are determined to be safe to return home. It’s in these situations where the community value of the CSU truly shines. The sharp rise in children and adolescent behavioral health illnesses in recent years (our hospital has treated patients as young as five) has resulted in a dire shortage of qualified long-term residential pediatric beds across New York State. While Glens Falls Hospital is not licensed to offer long-term behavioral health treatment for children and adolescents, the CSU team takes responsibility for keeping these most vulnerable patients safe until they can be transferred. Sadly, one young patient remained under the CSU’s care for nearly four months.

The opening of the CSU marked another milestone in Glens Falls Hospital’s half-century commitment to behavioral health patients across our five-county, 6,000-square-mile region. While the insurance payments received by the hospital for behavioral health care do not cover typically cover the entire cost of care, the hospital recognizes the tremendous need for these services in our region and is committed to working with generous community donors to ensure the continuation of these services.