HAP Achievement Awards: UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

June 20, 2025

HAP's annual Achievement Awards honor hospitals and health systems for their innovation, creativity, and commitment to patient care. The Achievement Awards showcase and share member hospitals’ and health systems’ successful programs and best practices.

UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital received the Excellence in Care Award for advancing perinatal mental health access among vulnerable populations by streamlining systems and integrating technology.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The challenge:  As demand for perinatal mental health services grew, limited clinical capacity led to long wait times and low follow-up rates, particularly among high-risk populations.
• Addressing the Issue:  Further investigation pointed to disconnected systems, limited coordination, and inadequate follow-up structures as the drivers preventing high-risk perinatal patients from accessing timely mental health care.
• Taking Action:  A comprehensive strategy expanded staffing, sped up intake, enhanced specialized care, and strengthened continuity through telepsychiatry, warm handoffs, and trauma-informed practices.
• Results:  Therapist staffing quadrupled, wait times dropped from four months to one week, telepsychiatry expanded to support 82 percent of outpatient visits, rural patient access surged, and patient engagement and follow-up rates improved markedly.
• Advancing Care:  The project team’s narrative reflects a commitment to equity, writing that “with this lens, improving health outcomes within marginalized communities became achievable as an expanded workforce provided access opportunities that were available regardless of ZIP code, demographic variables, and social determinants of health.”

Congratulations to UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital for its outstanding efforts to enhance patient safety and care outcomes. Learn more about the project online.

Questions about the HAP Achievement Awards may be directed to HAP Member Services at (717) 561-5359.