New Option for Mental and Behavioral Health: Psychiatric Urgent Care

Families throughout Washington state who need urgent support for their child’s mental or behavioral health have a new option: Psychiatric Urgent Care.

Seattle Children’s opened the clinic in late September to provide crisis assessment, initial treatment recommendations, and referral to appropriate resources in the community. Like other urgent cares, it provides an alternative to taking your child to an emergency department (ED) when you just can’t wait for a regular clinic visit but don’t need the services of an ED. Psychiatric Urgent Care is open daily including weekends from noon to 8 p.m. (closed major holidays), and provides in-person and virtual (video) assessment and intervention for children and youth ages 4 through 17.

Dr. Alison Golombek, interim medical director of Seattle Children’s Autism Center, encourages families to learn about the new clinic. “This is an important new service for Washington families raising a child with autism or intellectual and developmental disabilities,” says Dr. Golombek. “It provides another option for quick mental health crisis assessment and referrals for follow-up care in the community. And, by offering video visits, the clinic can help address the mental and behavioral health concerns of children throughout the state of Washington.”

The option of a virtual visit may feel especially supportive for children and youth with autism and their families. For example, autistic patients may appreciate the opportunity to avoid wait times and transitions in an unfamiliar building.

Dr. Golombek notes that Psychiatric Urgent Care doesn’t do autism evaluations (Spanish) and isn’t a “fast track” to get an autism diagnosis or other ongoing outpatient services through Seattle Children’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Clinic or Autism Center. The clinic’s case manager will support families in navigating and identifying appropriate follow-up resources in the community.

Psychiatric Urgent Care sees patients through video visits from anywhere in Washington state, and in person at Seattle Children’s Magnuson, located at 6901 Sand Point Way NE in Seattle.  Magnuson is the Seattle Children’s hub for behavioral and mental health care – including autism care – and provides a calming, intentionally designed space that can be a better option for kids in mental health crisis than the ED.

When might I bring my child to Psychiatric Urgent Care?

Psychiatric Urgent Care can see patients with the following concerns:  

• Anxiety: Worries or fears that impact daily life. May include compulsions, obsessions, panic attacks or avoidance of social situations
• Behavioral concerns without current aggressive behavior toward self or others: May include excessive crying or yelling, head banging, meltdowns, refusals to follow directions, tantrums
• Depression: Feelings of sadness or hopelessness that have impacted daily life for 2 weeks or longer
• Disordered eating behaviors not requiring medical testing or treatment: May include eating a lot of food in a short amount of time often (bingeing), throwing up after eating (purging) and not eating enough (restrictive eating)
• Medicine evaluations without mental health treatment
• Self-harm urges with no current need for medical attention
• Substance use concerns not requiring medical care that are secondary to mental or behavioral health issues
• Suicidal thoughts or feelings without a current suicide attempt requiring medical attention

Patients who are non-verbal or have limited communication can be seen at Psychiatric Urgent Care for these same concerns. However, Psychiatric Urgent Care does not have capacity to perform medical evaluations. If you are the caregiver for a child or youth with a significant behavior escalation, who is unable to answer questions about pain or other physical symptoms that might be an underlying cause for their distress, you may prefer to take them to a medical urgent care or to an emergency department for care instead.

Visit seattlechildrens.org/psychiatric-urgent-care for more details on when to go to Psychiatric Urgent Care and when to go to an emergency department.  

What support does the Psychiatric Urgent Care Clinic provide?

The goal is to assess the urgent issue, provide initial care recommendations and refer to follow-up care and resources in the community. During in-person and video visits, the care team will:

• Evaluate your child and the reason for the urgent concern. In some instances, the team may discuss medicines.
• Help you create a safety plan, which may include parent or caregiver-focused behavior management support.
• Offer treatment recommendations and may provide referrals to additional services in the community or at Seattle Children’s. Please note that patients seen through Psychiatric Urgent Care will not be able to get an appointment with Seattle Children’s Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Clinic faster than other patients waiting for care.

How can I schedule with Psychiatric Urgent Care?

Before scheduling a visit, learn whether to go to Psychiatric Urgent Care or an emergency department by visiting seattlechildrens.org/psychiatric-urgent-care.  

• For video visits from anywhere in Washington state, get in line to be seen. You will not receive a scheduled appointment time. You will get in a virtual line and wait for a provider to see you as soon as they are available. 
• For in-person visits, schedule an appointment time online.  
• If you are not able to schedule a visit online or through your child’s MyChart account, you can also call 206-987-2164. If you need an interpreter, call 1-866-583-1527 and ask for “Psychiatric Urgent Care scheduling.” 
• Learn more about what to expect and how to prepare for a visit to Psychiatric Urgent Care (PDF) (Simplified Chinese) (Somali) (Spanish) (Vietnamese).