MOUNT VERNON — Behavioral Healthcare Partners of Central Ohio had a ceremonial groundbreaking on Tuesday for a 24/7 mental health and addiction crisis center.

The 8,000-square-foot Knox County Behavioral Health Crisis Center will sit adjacent to BHP’s outpatient center on Blackjack Road. It will provide crisis stabilization for adults and youth aged 12 and over.

“We are committed to providing the right level of care at the right time and in the right place. Neighbors are in need and experiencing a behavioral health crisis,” BHP CEO Kate St. James said.

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“The optimal solution is a place close to home where individuals and families can get the specialized care they need by experienced behavioral health staff.”

St. James said the center will offer rapid intervention in a welcoming and engaging environment. This provides individuals in need with an alternative to waiting in jail or waiting for a psychiatric bed.

Kay Spergel, executive director of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Licking and Knox Counties, said a crisis center offers a safe place where people in crisis know they will find help to resolve it.

“For me, this center really involves this whole notion of hope where there is hope for someone who is having a problem in their life that they just don’t know what to do about,” she said.

“Hope is the first step that leads to healing, and healing in a community goes a very long way in terms of making us all healthier and well collectively.”

“I do think this is giving people in our community a chance to get the care they need in their own community and that they can get the right level of care in the right place and at the right time.” Kate St. James, BHP CEO

The center’s staff includes a nurse practitioner, a medical director who is a psychiatrist, counselors, and peer support specialists.

St. James anticipates being operational by the fall of 2025.

Boosting access: BHP expands mental health services in Knox, Licking counties

by Cheryl SplainJuly 31, 2024

Funding for the crisis center

The project cost is $4.5 million. BHP’s board launched a capital campaign in 2023 and has received $4.2 million thus far. The state contributed $3 million through Gov. Mike DeWine’s House Bill 45.

Jeff Scott, executive director of the Knox County Foundation, said the foundation has anticipated breaking ground since BHP reached out several years ago.

“We were thrilled in January to award a grant of $300,000 to make today possible,” Scott said.

“We couldn’t be more proud that it is going for a project that we believe will have such a significant impact in our community and for our residents, not just in the next few years, but for many, many years to come.”

It is the largest grant in the foundation’s history.

The Ariel Foundation, Energy Co-operative, and Kokosing contributed to the project. BHP’s public campaign will raise the remaining $250,000. Ariel Foundation will match all campaign donations up to $100,000.

Behavioral Health Crisis Center: Where healing begins

In the medical health care model, people have options depending on the level of care they need:

•Primary care

•Urgent care

•Emergency room

•Hospitalization

Behavioral health is the same way. The behavioral health crisis center functions at the emergency room level.

“Right now, if somebody is in a mental health emergency where they are thinking about harming themselves or in an addiction-related emergency, the only place they have to go is the emergency department,” St. James said.

However, St. James said national numbers show that when someone goes to the ED, health care personnel assume they need referral to a psychiatric hospital.

“By and large, 75% of those folks don’t need that high level of care if we can do an intervention with them and we can do it quickly as opposed to them sitting and waiting in an emergency room to get a bed in a psychiatric hospital,” she said.

“This is not a commentary on how well or not the health system does it. They do as good of a job as they can. But they are not set up to do behavioral health.”

BHP’s crisis center provides that quick response in an environment tailored to the individual’s behavioral health needs.

“We are equipped to work with their mental health or their addiction emergency, and we can work to stabilize them by using a more rapid intervention. When you have this type of a center, it’s only about 25% of those individuals who will need to go to a higher level of care,” St. James said.

A calming environment

After BHP completes construction, the agency will move its urgent care services on South Mulberry Street to Blackjack Road.

The center will be open 24/7. When an individual arrives, medical personnel assess their needs and treat them on the urgent care side or the emergency side.

The emergency side features two units: one for youth 12 and over and the other for adults. Each unit accommodates eight to 10 individuals.

The units follow the living room model and are open with chairs and recliners.

“It’s meant to be a warm, calming and engaging environment for folks,” St. James said. “Staff are out; they’re not behind closed doors, they’re not in offices. They’re out on the unit working with people and helping them stabilize and get what they need.”

Individuals can stay in the emergency unit for up to 24 hours.

“Nationally, the time that it takes from the time they walk in the door to the time that they go home is around 12 hours,” St. James said.

“Around that 24-hour mark, you’ve got a good indication whether you’re going to be able to stabilize this person in-house or whether you need to transport to a psychiatric hospital.”

by Cheryl Splain August 28, 2024