HAP Achievement Awards: WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital

July 31, 2026

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.

WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital received the Community Champions Award for redesigning behavioral health crisis care through expanded community-based services including walk-in center and mobile crisis programs.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The challenge:  Behavioral health patients were spending long periods in the emergency department, often boarding for days in a high-stimulation setting not designed for low- to moderate-acuity crisis care.
• Addressing the Issue:  Further investigation pointed to prolonged ED stays, preventable ED visits, limited access to timely crisis support, and broader hospital throughput challenges as key drivers.
• Taking Action:  A coordinated strategy expanded walk-in and mobile crisis services, embedded psychiatry and therapy in the ED, strengthened daily care coordination, and built stronger partnerships with EMS, law enforcement, schools, and community agencies.
• Results:  Behavioral health patients boarding in the ED for more than 72 hours decreased by more than 95%, ED length of stay was cut in half, crisis-related ED visits declined, and more individuals were connected to community-based support.
• Advancing Care:  The team advanced a more humane approach to behavioral health crisis care by helping people receive support earlier and in less restrictive settings, emphasizing that “Patient care does not start at ED registration; it starts in the community—through access, proximity, outreach, and trust.”

Congratulations to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital for its outstanding work to improve the health and well-being of its community. Learn more about the project online.

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