EmPATH Unit

Emplify Health by Gundersen

BWBR partnered with Emplify Health by Gundersen to create Wisconsin’s first EmPATH (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing) unit. EmPATH provides an alternative, innovative model to treat patients who present to the emergency room in a mental health crisis, designed to support dignity, safety, and de-escalation. The EmPATH setting provides an appropriate short-term healing space for assessment and stabilization, freeing space in the emergency department and reducing the need for inpatient admission while staff work with patients to determine next steps in treatment.

Located within Gundersen’s existing Behavioral Health Department on the La Crosse campus, the space has dedicated exam rooms and treatment spaces that incorporate low-stimulus lighting and acoustics, nature-inspired elements, and access to daylight to support a comforting, conducive environment for emergency mental health care. A living room-style open space with comfortable recliners, self-serve refreshment areas, and open nurse stations create a welcoming, home-like setting while providing an atmosphere of trust. The new unit expands the continuum of care available on campus, creating a seamless discharge pathway to Gundersen’s inpatient, outpatient, or partial hospitalization program—which BWBR helped relocate from the basement of an offsite building to an on-campus space adjacent to EmPATH, easing care transitions.

Project partners: Dunham Associates