South Bend, Ind.-based Beacon Health System is laying off several social workers as it moves behavioral health crisis screening in its Beacon Kalamazoo (Mich.) emergency department to telehealth, CBS affiliate WWMT reported Oct. 22.
“As Beacon Health System continues evaluating how to best meet the needs of behavioral health patients across our region, we have made the decision to transition to telehealth behavioral health crisis screening in our Beacon Kalamazoo Emergency Department,” the health system said in a statement shared with Becker’s.
Beacon said the telehealth model will expand crisis screening coverage at the Kalamazoo emergency department to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The change also brings the service to the emergency departments at Beacon Allegan (Mich.), Beacon Plainwell (Mich.) and Beacon Dowagiac (Mich.), which will now offer their own telehealth behavioral health crisis screening.
The health system did not disclose how many workers will lose their jobs.
“Beacon is committed to supporting affected associates and, wherever possible, helping them identify other opportunities within our health system,” the statement said.
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