Crisis Hostel: An Alternative to Psychiatric Hospitalization for Emergency Patients

For five months the crisis intervention division of the Fort Logan Mental Health Center admitted all emergency patients who needed inpatient care to a small crisis hostel in the community. The hostel had no formal residential staffing, and neighbors helped with the program; stays were limited to seven days. When compared with a control group receiving regular inpatient care, the 49 hostel patients had much lower inpatient-readmission rates and comparable ratings on 11 of 12 other outcome measures.