VHHA Releases Report on Virginia Behavioral Health System, Hospital Efforts to Improve Access

October 23, 2025

New Report Illustrates How Hospitals and Health Systems Lead Innovation, Support Communities, Strengthen the Health Care Delivery System and Highlights Challenges and Opportunities on Workforce Development, Growing Service Demand, Crisis Care, Transportation Needs, and Reimbursement Issues

RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) is publicly sharing a new report – “Behavioral Health in Virginia: Transforming Access, Care, and Outcomes” – that highlights how hospitals and health systems are leading on innovation, supporting communities, and strengthening the health care delivery system.

The report was initially shared with attendees at the seventh annual Virginia Behavioral Health Summit held on Sept. 25, 2025 in Richmond and it is now available to the public. It provides information about Virginia’s behavioral health hospitals, types of treatment services, how care is covered and reimbursed, financial and regional challenges, state policy considerations, data charts illustrating some of those trends, information about crisis services, and more.

The report also focuses on several strategic priorities including strengthening the behavioral health workforce through loan repayment programs and training initiatives; expanding access through innovation by investing in telehealth, mobile crisis units, and transportation supports, particularly in rural areas; improving system integration by enhancing data sharing, streamlining case management, and fostering cross-sector collaboration to reduce fragmentation; and scaling crisis services statewide to provide timely, community-based responses that reduce strain on emergency departments and law enforcement.

In addition to information in the report, some recent VHHA data analyses also show a significant five-year increase in hospital admissions involving patients with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drug use disorder, and autism spectrum disorder diagnoses, which underscore the urgency in identifying innovative, coordinated, and systemic solutions.

“As demand for behavioral health services continues to grow, Virginia’s hospitals are leading the way in working with government and community partners to expand access, strengthen heath care workforce development pathways, and devise innovative strategies to meet community needs,” said VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “This work is critical at a time when Virginia’s private hospitals handle 92 percent of total annual voluntary and involuntary behavioral health inpatient admissions (58,300 of the 63,600 total admissions in 2024), as 63 percent of hospital behavioral health emergency department visits involve patients on Medicaid and Medicare whose care is reimbursed below the cost of care, and when the average length of an inpatient hospital stay for behavioral health care has increased from 6.7 days in 2017 to nearly 8.8 days in 2024. The presence of growing service demand, persistent workforce and reimbursement challenges, and the unique care needs of a diverse patient population requires stakeholders, including providers, to collaborate on solutions and strategies. The VHHA behavioral health report is being shared with the public as an important part of that continuing dialogue.”

VHHA’s behavioral health report is being released alongside a highlight video from the 2025 Virginia Behavioral Health Summit, whose theme was “Community: Building an Accessible System of Care Across the Continuum.” The Summit convened clinicians, hospital leaders, advocates, and policymakers to explore innovative models for access, crisis service expansion, and practical tools for patient care. View the video here.

VHHA extends its gratitude to members of the VHHA Behavioral Health Executive Steering Committee and other stakeholders who contributed to the Summit and the report as part of their collaborative work to share best practices, ideas, and recommendations on strategies to enhance behavioral health care access and delivery in communities across Virginia.

About VHHA: The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is an alliance of 116 hospitals and 26 health delivery systems that develops and advocates for sound health care policy in the Commonwealth. Its mission is to achieve excellence in both health care and health to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation. Its vision is through collaboration with members and stakeholders, to ensure the sustainability of Virginia’s health care system, transform the delivery of care to promote lower costs and high value across the continuum of care, and to improve health for all Virginians. Connect with VHHA through Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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