Last week, mental-health caregivers and advocates cut the ribbon on McNabb Center’s EmPATH facility, the first emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment and healing center in Tennessee. The center, located at 1515 St. Mary Street, will help as many as 6,000 people a year.
McNabb leaders and others say the EmPATH unit will be a game-changer with its around-the-clock care, helping people when help is most needed: after hours, on weekends, without requiring next-day visits or ER visits.
The key point for this facility is people experiencing psychiatric emergencies getting help faster. 75 percent of behavioral-health crises can be stabilized within 24 hours. Now, they’ll begin receiving treatment immediately as they arrive at the EmPATH facility, rather than having a potentially long wait at a crowded hospital emergency room.
Funding for the EmPATH facility was a threefold collaboration with the city of Knoxville and Knox County each contributing more than $1 million, and the state funding $6 million.
The addition of the EmPATH facility also furthers the city’s goal of intense community-building by repurposing the vacant St. Mary’s campus and clustering vital services.
The repurposing continues: the city’s $70 million-plus investment in the Public Safety Complex, LMU’s more than $40 million retrofit of nine floors for nursing and dental education, and the coming urgent care treatment center plus more.
The city of Knoxville provided information for this report.
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