The New Yorker magazine did a big feature article on Scott Zeller, MD ’82 life’s work and his invention, the EmPATH unit (Emergency Psychiatry Assessment, Treatment and Healing unit).
These are new ERs in hospitals specifically designed for people experiencing behavioral health emergencies, who in the status quo are stacked in hallways for long hours waiting for an elusive psychiatric hospital bed to open up, and instead, EmPATH units have resulted in the following improvements in care and metrics published in the top peer-reviewed academic journal Academic Emergency Medicine:
*Reduced Emergency Department (ED) behavioral health patient length of stay from an average of 16.2 hours to just 4.9 hours (70% reduction!)
*Reduced inpatient psychiatric admissions from 57% of patients to just 27% of patients (53% improvement)
*Reduced 30-day psych patient return to ED (recidivism) by 25%
*Improved the outpatient follow-up of patients from 39.4% to 63.2% (60% improvement)
*For those patients that still needed inpatient admission after EmPATH, their inpatient Length of Stay days were decreased.
*Added $861,000 to the emergency department bottom line in the first year alone by moving patients to better, more prompt care in EmPATH, thus opening up ER beds for other patients
EmPATH units are also far safer than traditional ERs for even the highest acuity patients, and avoid coercive care in over 99% of patients, while greatly reducing delays and costs.
There’s now several dozen EmPATH units operating across the US, with scores more in development around the US and across the world, including in Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Scotland and South Africa.
You can read more about this amazing work here. Congratulations Scott!
Gregory Lucas ’82 is set to retire from St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Crystal Lake after 37 years of ministry. You can read more here. Congratulations Gregory!
After over four decades of being at Illinois Wesleyan, Carl Teichman ’80 is stepping away from being the Director of Government and Community Relations and taking the job of Business Retention Manager at the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council. You can read more about Carl and this new position here. Congratulations Carl!
Vickie Folse ’86 was recently inaugurated as Ripon College’s first female president. She reflects on her time at Wesleyan and looks to the future here. Congratulations Vickie!
Jeff Parkhill ‘85 was elected to the City Council for Wayzata, MN. in November 2022. Jeff was previously appointed to the Wayzata Planning Commission where he served four years, with his last year as Chairman. Jeff also serves on his children’s school board at Breck School in Golden Valley, MN. Congratulations Jeff!
Illinois State University Mennonite College of Nursing Assistant Professor and Maternal Infant Course Leader Denise Hallberg Hammer, DNP, RNC-NIC ’86 and Illinois Wesleyan Assistant Professor of Nursing Brenda Ward Drury, DNP, RNC-MNN ’85 published a journal article in Neonatal Network, The Journal of Neonatal Nursing with colleagues Keli Sidebottom, MSN, RNC-OB, Angela Philpott, BSN, RN and Loretta Tay, BSN, RN. The article, “Keeping Families Close: A Hospital-Sponsored Boarder Program That Facilitates Parents’ Presence at the Infant’s Bedside,” describes the Boarder Program at a community medical center, shares its history, and provides evidence-based support for the effectiveness of this model. The Boarder Program is a unique, family-centered program designed to keep a mother and her infant together when the mother has been discharged but her infant requires additional medical attention and hospitalization. This provides the mother and a second caregiver increased opportunities to participate in their infants’ care and to engage in decision making. |
Victoria Olds ’88 was selected as the Nez Perce County Magistrate Judge. She was unanimously selected by the Second District Magistrate Commission of Idaho. Read the full Big Country News article here.
