News · Kalamazoo
Beacon Kalamazoo moves ER crisis screening to telehealth, cuts jobs
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Beacon Kalamazoo, the hospital on Gull Road long known as Borgess, is replacing the behavioral health crisis screeners in its emergency department with a third-party telehealth screening service, and some of the social workers who did that job are losing it.
Beacon Health System, based in South Bend, Indiana, confirmed the change in a statement. “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 system said, according to Becker’s Hospital Review and WWMT.
The health system has not said how many workers will be laid off. “Beacon is committed to supporting affected associates and, wherever possible, helping them identify other opportunities within our health system,” its statement said.
What changes for patients. Beacon says the telehealth model will give the Kalamazoo emergency department crisis screening coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The change also brings telehealth crisis screening to the emergency departments at Beacon Allegan, Beacon Plainwell and Beacon Dowagiac, which will now offer it on their own, according to the system’s statement as reported by Becker’s.
A crisis screening is the evaluation a person in a mental health or substance use emergency gets to decide what care they need next, such as admission, a crisis program or outpatient follow-up. Under the new model, that evaluation is done remotely by video rather than by a screener in the room.
What Beacon hasn’t said. The reports we reviewed did not name the telehealth company or say when the switch takes effect, and Beacon has not released the number of jobs cut. We will update this story if Beacon releases those details.
Who owns the hospital. Beacon bought Ascension’s southwest Michigan hospitals last year and renamed Ascension Borgess as Beacon Kalamazoo, WKZO reported.
Where to get help in Kalamazoo County, any hour. The hospital change doesn’t affect the county’s public crisis services, which are run by Integrated Services of Kalamazoo (ISK):
• Call 988 and ask for Mobile Crisis Response, a team that responds 24/7 anywhere in Kalamazoo County, ISK says.
• ISK’s 24/7 access line is (269) 373-6000 or toll-free (888) 373-6200.
• ISK’s Behavioral Health Urgent Care, 440 W. Kalamazoo Ave., is open for walk-ins 24 hours a day, every day, for people of all ages, with or without insurance. No appointment is needed.
• Gryphon Place’s helpline, (269) 381-4357, offers emotional support around the clock; dial 211 for community resources.
ISK notes its urgent care is not a medical facility. For an overdose, chest pain, serious injury or other medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Sources:
WWMT, “Beacon Health to lay off social workers, move crisis screening to telehealth,” Oct. 22, 2026 (statement, affected ERs, undisclosed layoffs), https://wwmt.com/news/local/beacon-health-to-lay-off-social-workers-move-crisis-screening-to-telehealth-kalamazoo-allegan-plainwell-dowagiac
WKZO, “Beacon Kalamazoo replacing behavioral health crisis screeners with telehealth,” Oct. 23, 2026 (third-party service, 24/7 coverage, ownership), https://wkzo.com/2026/10/23/982963/
Becker’s Hospital Review, “Beacon Health to lay off social workers amid crisis screening shift,” Oct. 2026 (Beacon statement), https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/beacon-health-to-lay-off-social-workers-amid-crisis-screening-shift/
Integrated Services of Kalamazoo, Mobile Crisis Response and Behavioral Health Urgent Care pages (phone numbers, hours, address), https://iskzoo.org/mobile-crisis-response-mcr/ and https://iskzoo.org/our-services/behavioral-health-urgent-care-access-center-2/
Photo: MSwierenga, “Borgess Hospital.jpg,” Nov. 18, 2024, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Borgess_Hospital.jpg
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