Jefferson Abington Hospital has closed its 23-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The space will be used for an emergency department surge unit to address overflow and Abington will continue to provide outpatient behavioral health services, according to the story.

Additionally, the hospital “will continue to provide crisis services to stabilize patients who are experiencing a mental health emergency when they arrive at the hospital,” The Inquirer said, noting that Abington will also “provide psychiatric evaluations needed to transfer them to specialized facilities.”

The change “will better serve our emergency department patients both with and without behavioral health needs,” Jefferson Health said in a statement. Officials did not say whether the psychiatric unit will be reopened in the future, where it plans to transfer patients, or if any employees had been laid off per the shift.

The hospital’s inpatient psychiatric unit treated 350 patients in 2024, The Inquirer said.

In October, Jefferson Health announced that it was laying off between 600 and 700 employees as part of “targeted workforce reductions.”

In July 2024, Jefferson Abington was issued an “immediate jeopardy warning” after determining a security guard used excessive force against a psychiatric patient. The Inquirer shared additional details of the incident earlier this year.

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