The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Georgia establishes five-year EmPATH hospital pilot program for behavioral health crises under HB 109
Last action · January 28, 2025: House Second ReadersSponsors: Imani Barnes and 5 others
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
Georgia creates a five-year pilot program to establish emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment, and healing units (s) in hospitals, providing 24/7 voluntary and involuntary crisis care as an alternative to emergency departments. The measure requires the units to operate with psychiatric evaluations within 24 hours of admission and exempts certified units from requirements.
Hospitals and communities gain a new licensed framework to divert individuals experiencing behavioral health crises away from traditional emergency rooms into specialized 24/7 stabilization units, backed by state grants and private donations.
- House Bill 109 was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives during the 2025-2026 legislative session. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Hospitals
Hospitals are eligible to apply for grant funding to create and operate EmPATH units and receive exemptions from certificate of need requirements for certified crisis stabilization units.
Individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis
Patients gain access to specialized 24/7 voluntary and involuntary outpatient crisis stabilization and evaluation as an alternative to emergency departments.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an EmPATH unit?
Are grants allowed to fund existing programs?
When does the pilot program end?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · introduced in the House.
Procedural history
3 actions- Jan 28, 2025HouseHouse Second Readers
- Jan 27, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse First Readers
- Jan 17, 2025HouseIntroducedHouse Hopper
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 1 more sponsor
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Alternative Emergency Care Framework
The legislation creates a distinct regulatory category for EmPATH units that exempts them from certificate of need requirements while designating them as emergency receiving facilities.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.ga.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools