The Extended Care Unit (ECU) is an intermediate-term inpatient unit for individuals with serious
mental illness who have struggled to maintain wellness in the community and frequently return to
the hospital on account of both their psychiatric illness and negative social determinants of health
(e.g., economic instability, poor healthcare access and quality, unstable social and community
context). Most ECU patients are admitted to the unit for three to four months.
The ECU utilizes a recovery-oriented approach and operates based on a social learning model.
Medication management, psychotherapy, intensive group programming, and intensive clinical
case management (e.g., linkage with benefits and entitlements, assistance with applying for
supportive housing, connection to care coordination and other community resources, etc.) are
employed within the framework of a token economy system aimed at incentivizing adaptive
skills and prosocial behavior. Treatment aims to maximize the potential for meaningful
community re-integration.
Patients who come to the ECU are expected to be active participants in unit programming.
Points are earned for carrying out healthy activities of daily living, demonstrating adaptive
interpersonal skills, and participating in groups and other therapeutic activities. These points
may be exchanged for various items and privileges, and as patients progress through
treatment, they have an opportunity to earn a greater number of points and additional
privileges through a tiered system. The intention of this social learning paradigm is for patients
to develop skills that will enable them to maintain community tenure.
ATTENTION: Please submit your referral to only one of the three ECU hospitals below.
All three sites offer the same programming and follow identical admission criteria and differ primarily by geographic location,
so select the site most convenient and/or preferable to the patient. However, Bellevue Hospital is the only site that provides ECT;
if ECT is required for the patient’s treatment, please refer to Bellevue Hospital specifically.
To begin, select the receiving hospital: