HARRISBURG, Pa. — In a matter of months, a regional behavioral health crisis walk-in center is set to open in central Pennsylvania.
This fall, a building on Harrisburg's S. Cameron Street will become home to what is a unique partnership between three counties.
“Instead of pointing fingers, we’re coming together and trying to figure out ways to creatively use resources to solve pretty big problems," said Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick III.
The problem Commissioner Hartwick is referring to is the mental health crisis that’s exploding across our region and nationwide.
“There’s an enormous need that exists here in Cumberland County, as well as Dauphin County and Perry County," added Cumberland County Commissioner Gary Eichelberger. "There was a real effort to come up with a solution.”
The solution is a 24/7 regional behavioral health crisis walk-in center where people from all three counties can receive treatment, even if they don't have an appointment or health insurance.
The three counties partnered to apply for a state grant to help fund the center. The Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services awarded the counties nearly $13.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, while the Capital Area Behavioral Health Collaborative (CABHC) reinvestment funds took care of the remaining $4.5 million for the project.
“There will be psychiatrists there, social workers there, mental health professionals there to help them get their needs met, and also people with lived experiences," explained Annie Strite, who is the Mental Health and Intellectual/Development Disabilities Administrator for Cumberland County.
The walk-in center will be operated by Connections Health Solutions, a national behavioral health crisis care provider whose crisis response care model has been recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing as best practice.
There will also be mobile crisis units that will allow mental health services to be deployed to other locations across the three-county region, wherever they are needed. The goal is to be able to have a crisis team deployed to any location within 90 minutes.
“We fully anticipate the crisis teams are going to be heavily utilized so we’ll have to evaluate their use and upscale as needed," said Strite.
In addition, the center will accept 100% of first responder behavioral health emergent care patient drop-offs, including police and EMS, with a dedicated entrance and intake area for those patients.
The goal is to relieve the current strains on emergency rooms and law enforcement, which many times find themselves responding to mental health crisis situations they may not be equipped for.
“When people leave the emergency room without being effectively connected to treatment, that sets the stage for the re-cycling all over again," said Andrea Kepler, Dauphin County's Mental Health, Autism, and Developmental Programs Administrator.
The walk-in center is expected to open its doors by the end of November.
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