MetroHealth will close its psychiatric emergency department at Cleveland Heights Medical Center at the end of the year, the health system announced Friday.

The 35 employees will be reassigned, and the system plans to integrate behavioral health services into primary care and expand its main campus emergency department to include an inpatient psychiatric unit — though fundraising for that project is still in progress.

MetroHealth said the closure is intended to avoid duplicating services offered by a new behavioral health crisis center on the former St. Vincent Charity campus, operated by The Centers, which is scheduled to open next fall. The decision also follows the diversion of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board funding, which previously supported the Cle

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