Emergency Behavioral Health Services

Mount Sinai offers psychiatric emergency care 24 hours a day, allowing us to conduct evaluations immediately and stabilize patients who are experiencing a psychiatric crisis. We treat patients age 13 and older, while pediatric specialists treat younger patients in the pediatric emergency room.

Our emergency room staff first determines if there is also a medical emergency. If there are medical conditions that require immediate attention, we treat the patient in our regular emergency room where medical physicians and our psychiatrists collaborate to treat all the immediate needs of patients.

In addition, our psychiatric emergency room staff provides round-the-clock consultations for inpatients throughout Mount Sinai as needed.

Conditions We Treat

Our psychiatrists have the experience and compassion required to treat a range of psychiatric issues, such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Cognitive and memory problems
  • Depression
  • Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia
  • Substance abuse disorders

In addition to serving patients already in treatment with a Mount Sinai physician, we receive many referrals from private physicians, local psychiatric clinics and mental health agencies, group homes and nursing homes.

Services We Offer

Our psychiatric emergency care staff includes psychiatrists who have demonstrated special interest and skill in caring for patients in crisis. We provide the most compassionate and effective care possible, while ensuring the safety of patients, and their loved ones.

To provide the treatment needed, we may admit an emergency room patient for inpatient psychiatric adult or geriatric care. If stabilized, we may discharge the patient and recommend continued care within the community. That care may be with a previous psychiatrist or with a new, recommended mental health professional who can provide follow-up treatment.

Emergency room staff prefer to avoid prescribing ongoing medications when discharging a patient. Instead, we prefer to direct the patient to his or her regular physician for pharmaceutical therapies and ongoing monitoring and needed adjustments to medication.

Our psychiatric emergency care staff includes psychiatrists who have demonstrated special interest and skill in caring for patients in crisis. We provide the most compassionate and effective care possible, while ensuring the safety of patients, and their loved ones.